BUDAPEST, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Hungarian authorities will sink two barges in the Danube on Saturday to raise the water level at the Paks nuclear plant to avert a shutdown of one of its last two remaining turbines, as water levels are dropping, Prime Minister Peter Magyar said.
The plant currently operates at around 25% of its capacity due to a historic drought and record low water levels on the Danube river, from which the nuclear plant draws its coolant.
Magyar said in a Facebook post that current forecasts indicated the water level would drop to the critical level by early Monday morning at which point one of the two operating turbines would have to be shut down.
"The Danube is receding...The controlled sinking of the barges will begin shortly," he said.
Hungary's government said on Wednesday that it would build a riverbed "sill", a submerged, dam-like structure built crosswise on the bottom of a river channel, to manage water flow. That will take weeks.
#level #magyar #levels
The plant currently operates at around 25% of its capacity due to a historic drought and record low water levels on the Danube river, from which the nuclear plant draws its coolant.
Magyar said in a Facebook post that current forecasts indicated the water level would drop to the critical level by early Monday morning at which point one of the two operating turbines would have to be shut down.
"The Danube is receding...The controlled sinking of the barges will begin shortly," he said.
Hungary's government said on Wednesday that it would build a riverbed "sill", a submerged, dam-like structure built crosswise on the bottom of a river channel, to manage water flow. That will take weeks.
#level #magyar #levels
29 days ago
