Hungary says nuclear shutdown may come this weekend

Hungary’s sole nuclear power plant could shut down this weekend, days earlier than predicted, Prime Minister Peter Magyar said Saturday, as a sweltering heatwave strains energy systems across central Europe. National weather service HungaroMet forecast highs of over 40C over coming days. A 42C peak predicted for Thursday would match the national temperature record set earlier this summer.

The nuclear plant in Paks, south of Budapest — normally providing around a third of the central European country’s electricity needs — is cooled by water pumped from the river Danube, which has dropped to record low levels due to lack of rain and successive heatwaves since May. On Friday, the plant’s operator said declining water levels could force Paks to be taken completely offline for the first time in its history around the middle of next week. “The water level of the Danube has fallen further, so engineers at the Paks power plant carried out another partial shutdown during the evening and early hours of the morning,” Magyar said in a Facebook video, noting that the plant is operating at around fourth of its normal capacity of 2,000 megawatts.

“A complete shutdown is expected to take place sooner than anticipated, possibly as early as this weekend” he added. Magyar announced several measures to prevent Hungary’s energy grid from becoming overwhelmed. These include penalties for large industrial consumers that fail to meet voluntary pledges to reduce electricity use during peak evening hours. Under an upcoming government degree, “anyone who makes a commitment and fails to comply can expect sanctions”, Magyar said.