Hungary takes emergency steps to keep Paks nuclear plant running

Hungary has a big nuclear power plant called Paks that makes almost half of the electricity for the whole country.

The plant needs water from the Danube River to stay cool.

This summer, a long dry spell and very hot weather made the river get very low.

When the river got too low, the plant could not make very much electricity.

It was working at only about ten percent of its full power, and later went up to about twenty-five percent.

To help, workers are going to build a special bump on the riverbed using lots of rocks.

They might also sink two big boats in the river to push the water level up.

This is expensive, and the country is losing money because the plant cannot make all the power it normally does.

A nearby country, Romania, already had to close its nuclear plant because the same river got too low.

Leaders are now thinking about how to keep nuclear plants safe when rivers get very low in hot, dry weather.