Hungary faces blackout as drought may force country to shut down nuclear power plant

Hungary faces blackout as drought may force country to shut down nuclear power plant A drought in Central Europe has had serious consequences in Hungary as the nation's only nuclear plant, which produces around half of its energy, could be forced to shut for the first time ever Hungary's only nuclear power plant will shut down for the first time in its history after a drought saw record-low water levels on the famous Danube River. The central European nation could face blackouts as the country's Prime Minister Peter Magyar said it is confronting the "most critical five days ahead". Magyar revealed the Soviet-built Paks nuclear plant, around 50 miles south of Budapest, could shut down this week and is currently running at reduced capacity. This plant uses water from the Danube to cool its reactors, but the river has dried up amid a drought in the country. The Paks plant also generates around half of Hungary's electricity. On Sunday, the plant, which has been open for 44 years, was operating at less than half of its usual capacity - producing 965 megawatts of power rather than the usual 2,000. The PM warned: "An energy crisis situation may arise from Monday." In a Facebook video, posted at the weekend, the PM said: "We are facing the most critical five days ahead. The power grid, our public services and ourselves will all come under enormous strain." Magyar, speaking at a news conference at the plant on Friday, said further reductions in output were imminent and revealed the whole plant will likely be powered down by Tuesday or Wednesday. The prime minister, who was elected in April this year, stressed to the public that this major move can be carried out safely and poses no risk to the public or environment. This comes as much of Europe, including Central Europe, have been plunged into prolonged periods of drought this summer with extreme heat sweeping across most of the continent. Concerningly, water levels are not expected to rise on the Danube in the coming days or even weeks as no significant rainfall is forecast. Hungary's government has asked households and companies that use large amounts of energy to voluntarily reduce their consumption to help stabilise the energy supply, particularly in peak demand hours between 5pm and 10pm. Some water restrictions have also been imposed in over 100 cities and villages, including areas around the capital Budapest, according to Sky News. The prime minister even said his party recommended suspending parliamentary sessions on Monday and Tuesday to try and conserve energy. This climate-related crisis could cost Hungary an enormous 100bn to 200bn forints (£235m to £470m) as the cost of importing energy increases, the vice chairman of the countries leading party said on Facebook. The European Commission said it was closely monitoring the situation in Hungary and said it could launch an emergency meeting and bring together its Electricity Coordination Group. The Danube crisis has also caused issues in other European nations, with images from Romania showing the Navy blasting rocks along the river to divert water towards the countries Cernavoda nuclear power plant. These controlled underwater explosions were also carried out due to worryingly low water levels due to the heatwave.