Hungary is preparing to sink two 80-metre barges in the Danube in an emergency attempt to raise the river around the Paks nuclear power plant, as record-low water levels threaten to prolong an acute energy crisis that has gripped the country for nearly two weeks.
Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced on Wednesday that the vessels would be moved into position at Paks and could be turned across the river, secured and sunk in a controlled operation if the Danube again falls towards critical levels. The first barge is due to arrive from Mohács on Wednesday evening and the second on Thursday, with a final decision on whether to sink them expected on Friday. The government estimates that the temporary barrier could raise the water level at the plant’s cooling-water intake by around 20 centimetres.
The unusual operation is intended to buy time for a much larger intervention already ordered by the government: construction of a permanent riverbed sill between the nuclear plant and Dunaszentbenedek on the opposite bank.
Work is scheduled to begin on Thursday. Crews will first spread a broad layer of stone across the riverbed to protect it from erosion before building the sill itself from increasingly large rocks. Around 35,000 cubic metres of stone will be used initially, followed by another 110,000 cubic metres. Once completed, the structure is intended to slow the flow enough to hold back water upstream, potentially raising the level near Paks by as much as one metre.
Around 100 soldiers are being deployed to assist, while work will continue around the clock. Magyar said the entire intervention would cost about HUF 6 billion, compared with what he estimated would be at least HUF 50 billion in monthly economic losses if Paks were unable to operate.
The measures announced follow nearly two weeks of pressure on Hungary’s electricity system. A prolonged heatwave and drought drove the Danube to record lows in late July and early August, forcing Paks—normally responsible for close to half of Hungary’s electricity generation—to reduce production to around 10 per cent of its 2,000 MW capacity at the worst point. Hungary increased imports and reserve generation, while hundreds of companies and households voluntarily cut demand by as much as 600–700 MW during evening peaks.
Over the weekend, rainfall further upstream in Austria brought temporary relief, with the rise in water level allowing Paks to begin restarting a second turbine on Monday. Authorities, however, repeatedly warned that the crisis is far from over. At the time of writing, the official Paks gauge stood at minus 112 centimetres and was again falling.
According to Magyar, forecasts indicate that the level could fall back to around minus 136–137 centimetres within four or five days and below minus 140 centimetres next week without intervention, again raising the prospect of a complete shutdown.
The basic engineering concept has received qualified support from Hungary’s HUN-REN Centre for Energy Research, which said a sill built in the Danube’s main channel could provide enough water for both normal and emergency cooling at Paks. The research centre has also stressed, however, that nuclear safety must take precedence and that any permanent intervention must account for navigation, flood protection, water management and environmental effects.
The same drought caused similar problems in Romania as well, with the government implementing an even more dramatic version of the same emergency measure Hungary is currently preparing. Last week, Bucharest sank four barges filled with rocks in the Danube to redirect water towards its Cernavodă nuclear plant. That temporarily raised water levels and kept the remaining reactor operating for several additional days, but failed to stop the continuing decline, with shutdown procedures due to begin on Thursday.
The recent announcement also comes after Magyar declared only two days earlier that the immediate danger had passed, saying the government had preserved nuclear safety, avoided a nationwide blackout and kept Paks from shutting down completely. ‘Together we did it, and we protected our country’s energy security,’ the prime minister said even earlier, on 7 August, after announcing that voluntary household cuts were no longer needed during critical periods.
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