Hungary's Paks Nuclear Plant Shuts Down Amid Record Drought, Energy Crisis Looms

Hungary faces “the most critical five days” ahead as a record drought in Central Europe has forced Budapest to shut down a nuclear power plant that generates 40 percent of the country’s electricity, Prime Minister Péter Magyar said Sunday.

“As our electricity system will face an enormous strain, I ask everyone to pay even closer attention to each other from Monday,” Magyar said in a video appeal.

The warning comes after Magyar announced over the weekend that the last operating reactor units at the Paks Nuclear Power Plant south of Budapest would be taken offline because of the continued drop in water levels in the Danube River, which the plant uses for cooling.

“Due to the further drop in the Danube’s water level,” Magyar wrote Saturday, “tomorrow it will be completely shut down for the first time in 44 years."

The Soviet-built Paks facility remains the backbone of the country’s power system. The loss of output has triggered national energy-saving measures and offers of support from regional neighbors.

A prolonged outage would cripple Hungary’s electricity supply at a time when temperatures are forecast to rise above 40 degrees Celsius in Budapest next week amid an ongoing heatwave and drought across Europe.

Magyar warned the shutdown could trigger an emergency at a time of high summer demand: “An energy crisis situation may arise from Monday. Coordinated steps and self-restraint will be needed to avoid more severe consequences.”

The government has urged households and businesses to reduce electricity consumption during peak hours between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m., calling on people to limit their use of air conditioning and washing machines. Authorities have also prepared an emergency plan to temporarily restrict consumption at industrial facilities on a rotating basis, while increasing output from other power plants.

The European Commission said Friday it was closely monitoring the situation and was prepared to convene an emergency meeting of its Electricity Coordination Group over the Paks shutdown.