Hungary: Full shutdown of Paks nuclear plant for first time in 44 years due to Danube drought
Paks nuclear plant: The plant covers half of the country’s needs.. and its shutdown may last for weeks as Danube water level reaches -134 cm
Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar announced on Sunday that the Paks nuclear plant would be completely shut down, for the first time since it began operating 44 years ago, due to a sharp drop in the water level of the Danube River, which is used to cool its reactors.
Magyar wrote on Facebook that a second generating unit at the plant would be shut down, reducing the plant’s capacity to 240 megawatts, before its complete shutdown on Monday morning. The plant, which supplies Hungary with about half of its electricity needs, had already reduced its output to less than 50% of its 2,000-megawatt capacity in recent days.
Record low Danube levels and cooling threats
According to news agencies, the reason for this unprecedented shutdown is the severe drought and heatwave hitting Central Europe, which has caused the Danube’s water level to drop to historic lows, with readings at the Paks plant reaching -123 centimeters and expected to fall to between -131 and -154 centimeters in the coming days, threatening the cooling water pump system. Hungarian authorities had warned that a drop to -134 centimeters would require a complete shutdown.
Impacts on energy, economy, and navigation
The shutdown of the plant, which operates four Russian VVER-type reactors, has cost Hungary more than 40% of its domestic electricity generation capacity, increasing reliance on imports at a time when the country is experiencing a heatwave with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius.
Magyar warned that the country faces “the five most critical days,” with possible mandatory electricity consumption restrictions for major companies, and called on citizens and businesses to reduce consumption, especially during peak hours.
Beyond the energy crisis, the low river levels have halted river shipping on sections of the Danube in Hungary, with barges running aground on sandbanks, disrupting transport on one of Europe’s most important inland waterways. Water use restrictions have also been imposed in more than 100 cities and villages.
تعتزم رومانيا إيقاف مفاعلها النووي الثاني في محطة “تشيرنافودا” بسبب الانخفاض الحاد في منسوب نهر الدانوب، بعد ثلاثة أيام من إيقاف المفاعل الأول للسبب نفسه، لتتوقف بذلك المفاعلات النووية في البلاد للمرة الأولى معاً نتيجة شح المياه.
لمزيد من التفاصيل: https://t.co/3WCPq8RSML pic.twitter.com/hiqYJ2SwNd
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Regional crisis and fears of recurrence
The crisis is not limited to Hungary, as the low Danube levels have also affected nuclear power generation in Romania, where a unit at the Cernavodă plant was shut down for the same reason.
Experts warn that these developments, occurring amid unprecedented drought and heat, reveal the fragility of Europe’s energy infrastructure in the face of climate change, and may become more frequent in the future.
The Paks plant shutdown is expected to last for several weeks, unless the region receives heavy rainfall to restore the river to safe levels-an unlikely prospect given weather forecasts indicating the heatwave will continue.
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