Rising water temperatures measured in the Danube do not yet pose a security risk to Hungary’s sole nuclear plant at Paks, operator MVM Paksi Atomerőmű said at MTI’s enquiry on Friday.
The operator said water temperature was being monitored along 500 metres of the river in the plant’s vicinity, and added that it was currently measured 24.2 C. According to the plant’s security regulations, power production should be reduced once water temperature measures 30 degrees Celsius.
Cooling the plant requires taking 100 cubic metres of water per second from the Danube, which is just above 10 percent of the output of the river at its record lowest level, the operator added. Currently, when the river’s water is at an average level, the plant uses less than 5 percent of that, the company said.
Cooling the plant “cannot have any negative impact on the environment including the flora and fauna”, the company said.
Read more about the Paks nuclear plant.
Featured photo illustration by Tamás Sóki/MTI