Romania races to divert Danube water as Hungary's Paks runs on last turbine (updated)
04/08/2026 07:57
* Romania builds Danube dike to protect nuclear reactor
* Hungary keeps sole remaining Paks turbine running
* Low river levels strain regional power supplies
(Writes through with details from Romania and Poland and fresh
Magyar quote from Paks)
By Krisztina Than and Luiza Ilie
BUDAPEST/BUCHAREST, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Romania was working on
a dike on Tuesday to divert water from the drought-hit Danube
River to its only working nuclear power reactor, while Hungary's
prime minister said the sole operating turbine at the Paks
nuclear plant was running safely.
The Paks plant in Hungary and Romania's Cernavoda nuclear
power plant both use water from the Danube for cooling. Record
low river levels have sharply curtailed output, forcing Budapest
and Bucharest to increase power imports and urge households and
businesses to reduce consumption.
Romanian state-owned nuclear power producer Nuclearelectrica
ROSNN.BX , which normally generates a fifth of the country's
electricity needs, shut down one of its two reactors early last
week as river levels fell.
At Hungary's Paks plant, three of four turbines have been
shut down, leaving the facility operating at just over 10% of
capacity. Authorities are closely monitoring Danube water levels
in a bid to avoid having to switch off the last remaining unit.
"Around 1:30 a.m. we were only a few millimeters away from
the full powering down of the Paks nuclear plant but then the
decline in the water level stopped and it rose 1.5 centimeters
by the morning," Prime Minister Peter Magyar said in a Facebook
post, before heading to Paks, located south of Budapest.
Speaking later in a Facebook video from the plant, Magyar
said "a potentially significant amount of rain could fall in the
Austrian catchment areas sometime around Thursday", although it
was not certain the rainfall would reach the Danube.
ROMANIA SUBMERGES ROCKS TO DIVERT WATER FLOWS
Romania's state water management agency is building a
temporary dike by sinking four rock-filled barges in a branch of
the Danube to divert more water towards the Cernavoda plant.
On Monday, the Romanian navy blew up a rock outcrop to help
the water flow before the barges could be submerged. Officials
said the embankment should be completed by Wednesday or
Thursday.
Nuclearelectrica executive Romeo Urjan told private
broadcaster Digi24 that removing the rock obstruction was
expected to extend the remaining reactor's operations by about
seven days.
VOLUNTARY CUTS EASE GRID PRESSURE
In Hungary, voluntary reductions in electricity use by
households and more than 300 companies, following a government
appeal, have helped lower demand and ease pressure on the
national grid. However, Magyar has warned that this week will be
critical as hot weather persists.
While the government has not imposed mandatory curbs on
industrial power consumption, it has not ruled out doing so if
conditions worsen.
Romania has also urged households, businesses and public
institutions to cut electricity use. Austrian wood panel maker
Kronospan said it will stop some of its Romanian production
lines in stages to cut its electricity consumption in half.
Scheduled maintenance and summer shutdowns at carmakers
Dacia, owned by France's Renault RENA.PA , and Ford Otosan
Romania F.N are also expected to reduce electricity demand.
Elsewhere in the region, Polish grid operator PSE called on
power producers to meet their capacity obligations on Tuesday
evening to bolster reserve generation as the country grappled
with soaring temperatures.
PSE said on Monday that high temperatures and low water
levels were constraining some power plants, but added that the
system remained well prepared to meet summer demand.
(Reporting by Krisztina Than and Anita Komuves in Budapest,
Luiza Ilie in Bucharest, Alan Charlish in Warsaw; Editing by
Lincoln Feast and Ros Russell)
((mailto:krisztina.than@thomsonreuters.com))