LOW DANUBE WATER LEVELS REDUCE ELECTRICITY GENERATION

VIENNA, JULY 30 /SRNA/ - Low water levels on the Danube are disrupting electricity generation in Austria, Hungary and Romania, forcing hydroelectric and nuclear power plants to reduce output or temporarily suspend operations.

The Danube's water level at Paks, Hungary, is 121 centimetres below the previous record low.

Florian Seidl, spokesperson for Verbund, Austria's largest hydroelectric power operator, said the reasons were the lack of rainfall and the steadily declining supply of meltwater from glaciers.

"At this time of year, we should normally be relying on snowmelt, but because of global warming there is less and less snowfall," he said.

Verbund's electricity generation is about 30 per cent below the long-term average.

In Romania, the Danube's water level has fallen to one-third of the average recorded for July. Both operating reactor units at the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant have had to be shut down. They normally generate about one-fifth of Romania's electricity, DPA reports.

In Hungary, one of the four reactor units at the Paks Nuclear Power Plant has been shut down. Prime Minister Peter Magyar said the remaining three are also at risk of being shut down.

Shipping on the Danube has been restricted due to the low water levels. Earlier this week, a river cruise ship carrying nearly 240 people ran aground on a sandbank near the Romanian Danube port of Cetate. All passengers were rescued.