Hungary Cuts Nuclear Output as Danube Heats Up

The Paks nuclear power plant in Hungary reduced the output of one of its four reactors due to high water temperatures in the Danube during a record-breaking heat wave. The plant's operator, MVM, announced on Saturday that it had reduced the output of the third reactor by 243 megawatts.

Early morning measurements showed that the temperature of the cooling water downstream of the plant reached 29.7C, exceeding the intervention threshold of 29.5C. According to Hungarian regulations, the temperature of the water downstream of the plant must be checked regularly whenever the temperature of the Danube exceeds 25C.

Engineers began reducing the output of the third reactor on Saturday afternoon. Plant experts are scheduled to take further measurements on Sunday morning and will decide on any further steps based on the results.

Hungarian Energy Minister Istvan Kapitany stated that households should not notice the reduction in the plant's output. However, he had previously called on residents to limit their electricity consumption in the early evening hours to help ease the load on the grid.

(Reuters, lud)