BUDAPEST: Hungary has shut down its only nuclear power plant for the first time in 44 years after a prolonged heatwave and severe drought caused the Danube River’s water levels to fall to critically low levels, disrupting the facility’s cooling system.
Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar announced on Sunday that the Paks Nuclear Power Plant would be taken offline after declining river levels made it impossible to maintain normal operations.
“Due to the further drop in the Danube’s water level, one of the last two generating units at the Paks Nuclear Power Plant will be shut down at 1:30 am,” Magyar said in a post on X.
He added that the plant’s output would be reduced to just 240 megawatts before being completely halted, marking the first full shutdown of the facility since it began operations more than four decades ago.
Located south of Budapest, the Paks plant is a key component of Hungary’s energy system, usually producing around one-third of the country’s electricity.
The facility relies on water from the Danube River for cooling, but the river has reached record-low levels following months of limited rainfall and repeated heatwaves across Europe.
The plant’s operator had warned on Friday that falling water levels could force Paks to suspend operations completely by the middle of next week if conditions continued to worsen.
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The shutdown comes as Europe faces an intensifying energy challenge linked to extreme weather, with prolonged droughts and record temperatures affecting power generation, agriculture and water supplies across several countries.
Hungary’s national meteorological service, HungaroMet, has forecast temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius in the coming days. A predicted peak of 42°C on Thursday could equal the country’s highest-ever temperature record set earlier this summer.
The latest disruption highlights the growing impact of climate-related extremes on critical infrastructure, including nuclear power facilities that depend on stable water resources for safe operation.
