Description:
Hungary’s Paks nuclear power plant is facing a possible historic shutdown as record-low water levels on the Danube threaten its cooling system. Prime Minister Peter Magyar said the facility, which supplies nearly half of Hungary’s electricity, could be forced offline if river levels continue to decline. The plant has already reduced output to less than half capacity amid a severe summer heatwave and drought. Magyar also warned of wider energy supply pressures, including fuel disruptions and logistical problems, while accusing former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government of failing to prepare for climate-related challenges. The crisis has intensified debate over Hungary’s energy security, climate resilience and reliance on Russian-linked energy infrastructure.
Hungary will power down its Paks nuclear power plant for the first time in nearly half a century on Sunday, Prime Minister Peter Magyar said on Saturday, as water levels on the Danube River the plant uses as a coolant have plumbed record lows.
The shutdown comes as large parts of Europe have been hit by prolonged heat and drought, driving river levels lower and raising concerns about water supplies, shipping and power generation.
Falls in water levels amid a lack of rain have also disrupted shipping and tourism in Hungary and triggered water-use restrictions in more than 100 cities and villages, including on the outskirts of Budapest, based on government records.
The energy crisis could also hit the wider economy, which grew less than forecast in the second quarter following a three-year stretch of stagnation.
“Due to a further decline in the Danube’s water level, the second-to-last generating unit at the Paks nuclear power plant will be shut down at 1:30 a.m. (2330 GMT),” Magyar said in a Facebook post.
“As a result, the plant is now producing only 240 megawatts (of electricity), and tomorrow (on Sunday), for the first time in 44 years, it will be completely shut down.”
Hungary’s water authority was projecting the water level on the Danube River, which flows from Germany to the Black Sea, to decline further in the next days.
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Earlier on Saturday, engineers restored 360 MW of power output lost due to a malfunction at Hungary’s largest gas-fired power plant in Szazhalombatta, but Magyar said additional measures were needed to ease the load on the power grid.
A series of blistering heat waves has weakened some of Europe’s most historically reliable sources of electricity, forcing the continent to lean more heavily on imported fossil fuels and variable renewable energy.
France’s river-cooled nuclear plants have suffered a record amount of heat-related outages this summer. Hungary’s only nuclear station faces shutdown as river levels fall. And hydroelectric plants in the Alps and Nordic region — a crucial source of on-demand, low-carbon power — have been hobbled by hot, dry weather. With more scorching days forecast for August, the disruptions are poised to push power prices even higher, leaving Europeans facing steeper electricity bills just to keep cool.
The heat-related strains coincide with a surge in natural gas and coal prices after the collapse of the US-Iran ceasefire once again sharply curtailed traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. It’s an echo of 2022, when Russia slashed gas supplies to Europe ahead of its invasion of Ukraine, sending energy prices to astronomical levels. The crisis was compounded by an extensive maintenance and repair program that sidelined a large part of France’s nuclear fleet and by historically low hydroelectric output.
France has lost over 3.7 terawatt-hours of nuclear power to temperature restrictions during June and July alone, more than double the previous full-summer record set in 2018, according to ICIS data. While overall generation has remained broadly in line with recent years, output has fallen sharply during periods of extreme heat, reducing supplies as electricity demand for air conditioning peaks.
The cooling towers and giveaway chimneys shown in the video do not belong to Paks 1 (Hungary’s only nuclear power plant), but to a coal power plant in Indiana. Paks 1 has no cooling towers, though Paks 2, which is currently being built next to it, will have them. Paks 2 will double Hungary’s nuclear capacity, and with cooling towers, it should be able to run even in severe heat and drought conditions. Retrofitting the older reactors would be possible, and might be economically justifiable if conditions like today’s continue. France’s older river-cooled reactors on the Loire and the Rhone use direct river cooling for their steam condensers, but the more recent Civaux, on the Vienne river, runs a cooling tower for each reactor, plus smaller fan-powered coolers only used in hot weather, so that water rejected to the river is inside environmental limits. The two reactors at Civaux make about 50% more power than the four Soviet-designed reactors in Hungary. France’s latest reactor avoids the problem by being on the coast; Hungary doesn’t have that option, but does have others.