Hungary to shut down Paks nuclear plant for first time in 44 years as Danube hits record low

Record-low Danube forces historic shutdown

The Paks nuclear power plant, Hungary's only nuclear facility, will be completely shut down on Sunday for the first time since it began operating in 1982. Prime Minister Peter Magyar announced the decision late Saturday night, citing a further drop in the Danube's water level. The plant, located 120 kilometres south of Budapest, uses river water to cool its four Russian-made reactors, which normally supply nearly half of the country's electricity. Output had already been slashed to 965 megawatts on Friday and to just 240 megawatts overnight, far below the combined 2,000-megawatt capacity. The second-to-last generating unit was switched off at 1:30 a.m. Sunday, leaving the plant on the brink of a full stoppage.

The Danube at the Paks gauge stood at minus 124 centimetres, already 26 centimetres below the previous historic minimum of minus 98 centimetres set in 2018. The safety threshold for the last operating unit is minus 134 centimetres, and forecasts suggest the level could fall below minus 144 centimetres. Hungary's water authority expects the river to keep dropping in the coming days, with no significant rainfall in sight.

The Danube's water level has declined further. Therefore, engineers at the Paks plant have implemented another round of output reductions overnight. A complete shutdown could take place earlier, as soon as this weekend.

Emergency power-saving measures

To cope with the loss of domestic generation, the government will issue a decree enabling grid operator MAVIR to order mandatory consumption cuts from large industrial users and, if necessary, temporarily disconnect them from the grid. Households will be the last affected. The decree also temporarily allows household solar installations to feed more power into the grid to reduce import needs. Magyar had already secured voluntary reductions of 240 megawatts from big consumers and warned that sanctions would apply if those commitments were not met.

Additional measures include halting rail cargo services between 1500 and 2000 GMT starting Monday, ordering public sector employees to work from home for the first three days of next week, and asking private companies to follow suit. Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony announced that metro and tram frequencies would be reduced, with diesel buses replacing trolleybuses on some routes. Floodlights on public buildings and non-essential lighting will be switched off. Water use has already been restricted in more than 100 cities and villages, including parts of the capital's outskirts.

Each drop of water counts.

Economic and regional fallout

The shutdown is expected to last weeks, forcing Hungary to rely on expensive electricity imports. Tisza Party Vice Chairman Mark Radnai estimated the additional cost at 100 to 200 billion forints (€273 million to €546 million). The blow comes as Hungary's economy is already sluggish, with second-quarter growth falling short of forecasts.

The low Danube is not only a Hungarian problem. In Romania, the first unit of the Cernavodă nuclear plant was shut down and disconnected from the grid in late July. Serbia's authorities warned that the river could break a century-old low-water record and have already halted a pumping station that supplies northern Vojvodina. Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico offered assistance, writing on Facebook that Bratislava was "closely monitoring the energy situation" and ready to help its neighbour.

I am closely following the energy crisis in Hungary and express our full solidarity with our neighbour as well as our readiness to help.

A climate-driven crisis

The Danube's plight is part of a broader pattern across Europe, where months of below-average rainfall and successive heatwaves since May have pushed river levels to historic lows. In Budapest, the Danube measured just 23 centimetres on Wednesday morning, well below the previous record of 33 centimetres from 2018. Scientists at the World Weather Attribution group have linked the extreme temperatures to human-caused climate change. The crisis has also disrupted shipping and tourism along the river, compounding the economic strain.