Record-Low Danube Levels Force Full Shutdown of Hungary's Paks Nuclear Plant

Hungary's only nuclear power plant, located at Paks on the Danube, will halt all operations for the first time in its history because the river's water level has fallen too low for the plant's intake systems to draw sufficient cooling water, Prime Minister Peter Magyar said.

An unprecedented shutdown

The Danube, one of Europe's most important rivers, has experienced a prolonged dry spell this summer that has left water levels at some monitoring stations far below seasonal norms. Officials said the plant's suction nozzles, which draw river water for cooling reactors, can no longer reach the water surface at current levels.

• Paks normally supplies around 40 percent of Hungary's domestic electricity generation
• The plant has previously reduced output during low-water periods but never fully shut down
• Hungary says it will import additional electricity from neighboring grids during the outage
• Other Danube-dependent industries, including shipping, are also affected by the low water

The government said engineers are assessing whether temporary dredging or pumping infrastructure could allow a partial restart before river levels recover naturally, which typically depends on rainfall in the river's upper basin in Germany and Austria.

Wider European impact

The Danube shutdown adds to a summer of climate-related strain on European infrastructure, following wildfires and heatwaves elsewhere on the continent. Hydrologists say low-flow events on major rivers are becoming more frequent as summer precipitation patterns shift.

Hungarian officials have not given a firm timeline for restarting the plant, saying restoration depends on rainfall upstream and on emergency engineering measures currently being evaluated.