Hungary’s Paks nuclear power plant was fully shut down on August 2 for the first time in its 44-year history, after the Danube River dropped to record-low levels that left the facility unable to draw sufficient cooling water for its reactors.
Prime Minister Peter Magyar confirmed the shutdown in a nationally televised address, warning that Hungary faces “the most critical five days ahead” as it navigates an energy crisis during one of Europe’s hottest summers on record. The Soviet-built, four-reactor plant south of Budapest normally supplies nearly half of Hungary’s electricity.
The crisis unfolded over several days as the drought intensified across Central Europe. Paks began reducing output in late July after water levels at the facility’s intake point dropped below the threshold needed for safe cooling operations. By August 1, only one of the plant’s four units was still operating at roughly 12 percent capacity, producing about 240 megawatts of the plant’s 2,000-megawatt total.
A critical river-level reading of minus 134 centimeters at the Paks monitoring station triggers a mandatory full shutdown under the plant’s safety protocols. The Danube fell below that mark over the weekend, forcing operators to power down the final remaining unit. Hungarian officials said the plant may not be able to resume operations for weeks or even months, depending on when water levels recover.
The European Union has been drawn into the crisis. Brussels was reportedly considering convening an emergency meeting to coordinate cross-border energy support for Hungary. The shutdown removes a significant chunk of generating capacity from the European grid at a time when heatwaves are driving electricity demand to peak levels across the continent.
Hungary has turned to natural gas imports and interconnections with neighboring countries to fill the gap. Magyar said the government was in talks with Austria, Slovakia, and Romania to secure emergency power supplies, while activating stored gas reserves to run thermal plants. Energy analysts warned that the added demand could push regional electricity prices higher.
The Paks shutdown is the most visible symbol of how Europe’s escalating climate crisis is threatening critical infrastructure. The same drought that dried the Danube also hit the Rhine in Germany, crippling barge traffic on one of the continent’s busiest commercial waterways. France, Spain, and Greece are simultaneously battling some of the worst wildfires in recent memory.
Hungary had already been planning a major expansion of the Paks facility with a new reactor complex, a project that has faced delays and cost overruns. The current crisis has renewed debate about the reliability of nuclear power in an era of extreme weather, even as the European Union pushes to expand low-carbon energy to meet climate targets.
Sources: BBC News, Al Jazeera, Euronews
Author: Europe Desk
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