الدانوب ينحسر.. المجر تغرق بارجتين لإنقاذ محطة نووية من الجفاف

In an unusual measure reflecting the repercussions of the heatwave and drought affecting Europe, Hungary has begun to sink two 80-meter-long barges in the Danube River near the Paks nuclear power plant, in an attempt to raise water levels and ensure the continued flow of cooling water necessary for the plant's operation.

The Hungarian authorities announced the implementation of the operation after the Danube's water level reached record lows, which has already impacted the production of the Paks plant, the only nuclear power facility in the country, with a total capacity of about 2000 megawatts, providing more than a third of Hungary's electricity needs.

Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Márki-Zay stated that the water level near the plant was about 122 centimeters lower than usual, with expectations of further declines, threatening to take one of the remaining turbines offline. The process of sinking the barges began on Saturday morning, while the water level near the plant rose by about one centimeter in the first phase.

Sinking the barges is only a temporary solution; Hungarian authorities are concurrently working on a more extensive project involving the construction of a submerged barrier at the riverbed using about 150,000 cubic meters of rock, aiming to slow the flow of water and raise its level at the cooling water intakes, with expectations that the barrier could raise water levels by up to about one meter under certain conditions.

The crisis reveals a significant vulnerability in some European nuclear power plants, as water-cooled plants rely on rivers or seas to dissipate the heat generated from electricity production. When heatwaves coincide with droughts and declining river levels, the available cooling water quantity and its temperature become critical factors affecting the plants' ability to continue operating.

The severity of the phenomenon is more evident in neighboring Romania, where the Cernavodă nuclear power plant had to shut down its last operating reactor due to the record low levels of the Danube, after another reactor went offline last July. The plant typically provides about 20% of Romania's electricity.

Nuclear facilities in other European countries have also been affected by heatwaves and rising river temperatures, highlighting an increasing challenge for the energy sector: how to ensure the reliability of nuclear power under more extreme climatic conditions? These developments are prompting European countries to explore engineering solutions and cooling technologies better equipped to handle periods of drought and extreme heat.

The Paks crisis holds additional significance for Hungary, as the reduced output from the plant places pressure on electricity supplies at a time when demand is rising due to high temperatures. The plant's output had previously dropped to about 10% of its capacity earlier this month before rising to nearly 25%, illustrating the extent of the impact caused by the declining Danube water levels.