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The Hungarian Prime Minister said “politicians, propagandists or journalists” who claimed that water was being withheld were “lying and sowing confusion.”
The prime minister made the remarks after a meeting with parliamentary group leaders at the presidential palace on Monday to discuss the extreme heat, drought and the government’s response.
He said the heat wave was accompanied by an unprecedented drought and rejected attempts to suggest otherwise.
“Anyone trying to prove otherwise is simply lying,” Magyar said.
Output at Paks has been gradually reduced over the past week as record-low Danube levels limited the volume of water available to cool the plant.
Magyar said the remaining turbine, currently generating 240 MW, could continue operating through Monday or possibly Tuesday.
Keeping the turbine online was “very good news,” he said, adding that intervention by engineers had raised cooling water levels by several centimeters after the second-to-last turbine was switched off Sunday.
The final turbine will begin shutting down when cooling water levels fall by another 5 centimeters, Magyar said.
Maintaining safety remained “the priority,” he added.
In a later Facebook post, Magyar said Danube levels at Paks were “stagnating” and forecasts from water management experts for the coming days had become “a little more optimistic.”
He said efforts were focused on maintaining the operation of the last of the plant’s eight turbines. Minimizing the time between a potential shutdown and restart was important because restarting becomes more difficult if the reactors cool completely, he added.
Magyar also rejected comparisons with conditions at Paks in 1983. At that time, Danube water levels were more than 1 meter higher, only one reactor unit was operating and total plant output stood at around 500 MW, compared with the usual 2,000 MW today, he said.
Voluntary savings by industrial, institutional and household consumers reduced electricity use by 700 MW on Sunday, Magyar said.
He added that hundreds of companies were implementing voluntary consumption cuts and expressed hope that reductions by corporate users alone could reach as much as 500 MW.
State institutions, large businesses and industrial consumers would be required to adjust to the decline in domestic power generation before households, Magyar said.
Major corporate consumers had initially been asked to reduce consumption voluntarily, but mandatory cuts or sanctions could be introduced if necessary to maintain security of supply.
The government must continuously monitor the energy balance and intervene immediately if voluntary industrial savings prove insufficient, either by ordering compulsory reductions or disconnecting selected consumers, he said.
Magyar said older generation capacity had also been prepared for possible use. The Litér gas-turbine power plant and two units at the Mátra power plant had been supplied with fuel and could be started immediately if needed.
Magyar and Ágnes Forsthoffer, the speaker of parliament exercising the powers of the president of the republic, both emphasized the need for political cooperation during the crisis.
Magyar described the meeting as constructive and said partisan conflict should give way to national unity.
“Anyone who spreads disinformation, causes confusion, hinders response efforts, or incites panic in such a situation is failing to act in the manner for which the electorate chose them,” he said.
He added that the political elite should “make an effort and do at least as well in this situation as the Hungarian people are doing.”
Forsthoffer said she had not called the meeting to ask participants to “abandon their ideological principles.”
Drought and extreme heat affected everyone, she said, adding that political actors should “collectively project calm, demonstrate cooperation, and rally behind measures that enjoy broad support.”
Magyar said the most critical five-day period still lay ahead and that Hungary’s all-time heat record could be broken again.
He said participants had agreed on the need for a national water strategy and had pledged to “allow the experts to do their job.”
The role of parliament, the government and political decision-makers was “to make the best possible final decision based on professional recommendations,” he added.
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