Reactors from Russia

Hungary: Nuclear power plant may exceed Danube temperature limit

Hungary is planning to allow the temperature limit for a section of the Danube into which the cooling water from the Paks nuclear power plant flows to be exceeded. This is planned for reasons of security of supply, according to the Ministry of Energy. 

According to the regulation, the river cannot currently take in water if its temperature exceeds 30 degrees Celsius. In this case, the operator must reduce the output.  

"Throttling could jeopardize supply"
The plan proposed by the Ministry of Energy would maintain this limit, but allow the operator to exceed it on a case-by-case basis with the approval of the Minister of Energy if this is unavoidable for reasons of security of supply. "Curtailing the output of Paks could directly jeopardize the smooth supply of domestic consumers in a tight energy market," the statement said.

Four reactors built in Russia
The Paks plant has four Russian-built VVER 440 reactors with a total output of around 2000 megawatts. The reactors were commissioned between 1982 and 1987 and are due to be decommissioned between 2032 and 2037.