Record-low water levels on Danube force Hungary’s first shutdown of nuclear power plant

Ft.com Marton Dunai in Budapest, Aug 3 2026

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Hungary is preparing for electricity rationing as record-low water levels on the Danube river force the country’s only nuclear power plant to shut down completely. The 2 gigawatt Paks plant, which provides up to 40 per cent of the country’s electricity, relies on the Danube for cooling and has no backup water supply. “We are facing the five most critical days,” Prime Minister Péter Magyar said in a video message on Sunday. “From tomorrow, the Paks nuclear power plant will stop generating electricity, just as the hottest days, with temperatures reaching 40C, arrive. Our electricity system, our public utilities and all of us will come under enormous strain.”

On Saturday, the government issued a decree allowing it to cut energy supplies to the largest industrial consumers if the electricity grid comes under unsustainable pressure. Magyar said such measures would only be taken as a last resort. He said an emergency task force was set to meet later on Sunday and decide whether “mandatory electricity consumption restrictions will need to be imposed on large industrial users from tomorrow”.

The Paks plant, built with Soviet technology in the 1980s, has never before been forced offline. The operator said it was preparing for a controlled shutdown of its last working reactor. Magyar said there was no risk from the controlled shutdown…………………………………

Other countries have faced similar strains during the exceptionally dry summer. Romania’s Cernavodă nuclear plant, which also uses the Danube for cooling, is facing a controlled shutdown because of low river levels.

On the Rhine, extreme heat and drought have pushed levels to their lowest in eight years, disrupting one of Germany’s most important trade corridors and forcing manufacturers to curb production. Hungary’s economy is likely to suffer from the combined impact of heat, drought and power shortages. Companies are expected to halt production, agricultural output is likely to be exceptionally weak and costly electricity imports could add to inflation, limiting the central bank’s room to cut rates to support growth…………………… https://www.ft.com/content/a4539dc2-dcb0-4b57-9a78-c32cb1f9eda1?syn-25a6b1a6=1

August 6, 2026 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, EUROPE

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