Home · World · Jul 30 archive
Hungary's Paks Nuclear Plant Shuts Down Amid Drought
Confirmed
In Short: Hungary's only nuclear power plant will shut down for the first time in 44 years due to record low water levels on the Danube river, prompting energy conservation measures.
Hungary's only nuclear power plant, Paks, will be shut down entirely for the first time in 44 years due to record low water levels on the Danube river, according to Prime Minister Péter Magyar. He asked residents to limit energy consumption during peak hours to maintain the national grid balance.
Magyar also proposed a 'rotational shutdown regime' if necessary, and the government would compile a list of electricity and water consumers whose usage could be limited. The low water levels are causing significant disruptions, including forcing popular cruise ships to dock further upriver and halting cargo ship operations in Hungary.
The situation is not just due to current high temperatures but also low rainfall during spring, according to Serbian hydrologist Dejan Vladiković. Climatologists do not expect any improvement until mid-September, and the Danube is at levels not seen for 50 to 60 years.
The drought has also affected other parts of the region, with Bulgarian experts finding mammoth bones on the riverbed and reports of cruise ship passengers running low on food and water due to docking issues.
What's confirmed
What's still developing
- Hungary's only nuclear power plant will be forced to shut down entirely for the first time due to record low water levels of the River Danube, Prime Minister Péter Magyar has said.
- Magyar asked Hungarians to limit activities that required significant energy consumption between the peak times of 17:00 and 22:00, including charging electric cars and using air conditioning equipment.
- A "rotational shutdown regime" was also possible if the other combined efforts were not enough to maintain the balance of the national grid, Magyar said, adding the government would compile a list of electricity and…
- And a resident of the northeastern Bulgarian city of Ruse found bones on the Danube river bed, which experts determined were the remains of a mammoth.
- There were reports of passengers running low of food and water because the cruise ship was unable to dock in Vidin, but Viking later told the BBC that "sufficient water remained available for all guests and crew…
- "I have never heard of such low levels over the years. There has certainly not been a similar situation since 1990," Ivan Zhekov, head of river supervision at Bulgaria's maritime administration agency told BTA news…
- Serbian hydrologist Dejan Vladiković said the problems were not just down to the current high temperatures but also to low rainfall during the spring.
- He told Serbian TV channel N1 that the Danube was down to levels not seen for 50 to 60 years, and climatologists did not expect to see any improvement until mid-September.