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Hungary’s Paks nuclear turbine set to restart after Danube water rises
The restart is expected as Danube levels climbed following rain, after cooling constraints forced Hungary to cut output and shut the plant for the first time in 44 years.
Hungary expects its Paks nuclear power plant, the country’s only nuclear facility, to resume electricity generation as early as Monday evening after one of its turbines is switched back on, Prime Minister Peter Magyar said, according to OilPrice.
The move follows a period when heatwaves and a lack of rainfall in summer drove the Danube to its lowest levels in nearly 90 years, disrupting cooling water supply for reactors used by the plants in both Hungary and Romania.
Hungary shut down Paks last week for the first time in 44 years due to the continued drop in Danube water levels, and both countries had previously curbed nuclear output tied to river cooling constraints, the outlet said.
Magyar said Danube levels rose to 19 centimeters above the low point from a week earlier, with reconnection of a Paks turbine already underway and the No. 3 turbine on the second unit expected to generate power from evening, while Hungary had also reiterated calls for voluntary electricity consumption reductions amid the heatwave.