'Paks 1 could still be operating' - Peter Magyar blames Orban for energy crisis
Key Takeaways
- Hungary's Paks 1 nuclear plant faces possible shutdown.
- Peter Magyar blames Orban's climate and energy policies.
- Record-low Danube water levels threaten electricity generation.
Hungary's prime minister said years of ignoring climate change and prioritising Russian energy interests left the Paks nuclear plant vulnerable as record-low Danube water levels threatened electricity generation.
Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar has blamed former leader Viktor Orban for what he described as years of poor energy planning, saying record-low water levels in the Danube have pushed the Paks 1 nuclear power plant towards a possible shutdown.
Speaking at the MVM Paks Nuclear Power Plant in Paks on Friday, Magyar argued that earlier investment in climate adaptation could have prevented the current situation.
"If the Fidesz government, instead of a pro-Russian energy policy that dismisses climate change and bans wind turbines, had focused on Hungary's real sovereignty [...] Paks 1 could still be operating even now under such record-low Danube water levels," he said.
Magyar said the previous administration failed to prepare the plant for increasingly frequent droughts. He argued that installing new cooling pumps earlier and expanding wind power generation would have strengthened Hungary's electricity supply.
"While the previous government preached about sovereignty, [...] the expansion interests of the Russian nuclear industry and the interests of the domestic business circles attached to them were more important to the previous government than those of Hungarian consumers," he asserted.
The prime minister also questioned why work to prepare Paks 1 for low water levels had been awarded to a joint venture involving Russia's Rosatom.
"We know this well in connection with Paks 2, but despite the fact that preparation for low water levels and the development of pumps here at Paks 1 do not require Russian expertise, for some reason they still entrusted the development to a joint MVM Rosatom company," he said.
Paks was operating at less than half of its two-gigawatt capacity after falling Danube water levels limited the cooling water available to the reactors.
The Danube dropped to a record-low 23 centimetres in Budapest on Wednesday, breaking the previous record of 33 centimetres set in 2018.
Magyar had earlier warned that the plant could be forced to shut down completely for weeks, taking offline a facility that normally produces nearly half of Hungary's electricity.
The prolonged drought has also disrupted cargo shipping on parts of the Danube and reduced nuclear power generation in neighbouring Romania.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
