The plant that provides practically half of Hungary’s electrical energy can’t function with Danube at report lows
Revealed On 2 Aug 2026
BUDAPEST, Hungary – Hungary has introduced it should shut down its solely nuclear energy plant after record-low ranges on the Danube River diminished the water obtainable for cooling its reactors.
Prime Minister Peter Magyar mentioned the Paks Nuclear Energy Plant in central Hungary can 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 beneath the conventional 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’ skill to attract in sufficient water.
A river stage of minus 134cm at Paks forces a full shutdown, and the extent is predicted to fall as little as 144cm, far beneath the earlier 98cm report set in 2018.
The Danube, which flows from Germany to the Black Sea, is one among a number of European rivers whose ranges have fallen as a result of months of warmth and drought, main Hungary to put greater than 100 cities and villages underneath water-use restrictions.
The federal government additionally requested that firms that use massive quantities of water for operations voluntarily cut back their consumption to assist stabilise the state of affairs.
The record-breaking local weather occasion has additionally disrupted transport, 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 state of affairs” and was prepared to assist.
Europe has weathered successive heatwaves since Could, 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 offender for the unprecedented temperatures.
