The Hungarian government expects the Paks NPP to operate at full capacity a couple of days ahead of schedule – on August 26. This was announced by Prime Minister Péter Magyar. Earlier, power unit No. 3 was shut down due to a drop in the water level in the Danube, which is used to cool turbine condensers and reactors.
The reconnection of turbine No. 6, part of power unit No. 3 of the Paks NPP, has begun. The plant is expected to reach full capacity by Wednesday.
According to the Prime Minister, the full turbine connection cycle takes about 49 hours. This process is now in its final stage.
Abnormal heat in Europe caused a drop in the water level in the Danube. Nuclear power engineers were forced to shut down 3 out of 4 power units of the Paks NPP. The plant was generating about 500 MW (total capacity – 2000 MW).
Builders constructed a bottom sill (an underwater hydraulic structure in the form of a low dam, embankment, or concrete step on the riverbed). This helped raise the water level in the Danube near the NPP. The authorities planned to bring it to full capacity by August 28.
The Paks NPP has 4 power units with Soviet VVER-400 reactors. Paks-2 is being built nearby according to a project prepared by Rosatom. It will install VVER-1200 generation 3+ reactors.