The plant that provides practically half of Hungary’s electrical energy can’t function with Danube at document lows
Printed On 2 Aug 2026
BUDAPEST, Hungary – Hungary has introduced it would shut down its solely nuclear energy plant after record-low ranges on the Danube River lowered the water accessible for cooling its reactors.
Prime Minister Peter Magyar mentioned the Paks Nuclear Energy Plant in central Hungary could be powered down on Sunday, the primary full shutdown in its 44-year historical past. The plant provides practically half of Hungary’s electrical energy.
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Magyar mentioned output had fallen to 965 megawatts on Friday and to 240 in a single day, far under the traditional 2,000.
The Soviet-built, four-reactor plant south of Budapest siphons water from the Danube for cooling, however low river ranges have impacted its pumps’ capability to attract in sufficient water.
A river degree of minus 134cm at Paks forces a full shutdown, and the extent is predicted to fall as little as 144cm, far under the earlier 98cm document set in 2018.
The Danube, which flows from Germany to the Black Sea, is certainly one of a number of European rivers whose ranges have fallen because of months of warmth and drought, main Hungary to position greater than 100 cities and villages below water-use restrictions.
The federal government additionally requested that corporations that use massive quantities of water for operations voluntarily cut back their consumption to assist stabilise the scenario.
The record-breaking local weather occasion has additionally disrupted delivery, tourism, agriculture and trade within the nation, which was already beset by years of sluggish development.
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico introduced that his nation was “carefully monitoring the vitality scenario” and was prepared to assist.
Europe has weathered successive heatwaves since Might, with the most severe heatwave recorded on the continent occurring in June.
Scientists on the World Climate Attribution group say that proof factors to human-caused local weather change because the perpetrator for the unprecedented temperatures.
