Hungary’s PM announces closure of nuclear plant due to heatwave
The nuclear plant in Paks is cooled with water from the Danube river, which has fallen to record-low levels due to a lack of rain and successive heatwaves.
Hungary's Prime Minister Peter Magyar has announced the closure of the country's sole nuclear power plant, Paks Nuclear Power Plant, due to extreme heat and low water levels in the Danube river. The plant, which provides around a third of Hungary's electricity needs, normally generates 800 megawatts of power. However, due to the water level drop caused by a prolonged drought and heatwaves since May, one of the last two generating units will be shut down at 1:30 a.m. as of Sunday.
This will reduce the plant's output to 240 megawatts, signaling the first complete shutdown of the facility in 44 years. The plant's operator had previously indicated that the shutdown could occur around mid-next week. National weather service HungaroMet forewarns of temperatures exceeding 40C in the coming days, with a 42C peak forecasted for Thursday, matching the national temperature record set earlier in the summer.
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