Hungary's only nuclear power plant, the Paks NPP, is shutting down completely for the first time in its 44-year history.
The news was officially announced by Prime Minister Peter Magyar on his Facebook profile, Reuters reported. The reason for the drastic decision is the historically low levels of the Danube River, whose waters are used to cool the reactors, according to Bloomberg. Due to extreme drought and lack of precipitation in Central Europe, the water level has fallen below the critical point of the facility's suction pipes, Argus Media explains. This caused serious energy crisis in Hungary at a time when consumption is at its peak.
Capacity constraints and risk of blackout
Over the past 24 hours, engineers at the plant have carried out another forced power reduction, lowering production capacity to just 240 megawatts from the standard 2 gigawatts, before moving to a complete shutdown [Anadolu Agency (aa.com.tr/en/europe/hungarys-paks-nuclear-plant-to-shut-down-for-first-time-in-44-years-as-danube-water-levels-plunge/4016058)]. As the “Paks“ provides nearly 50% of the country's total electricity consumption, its shutdown puts Budapest at imminent risk of energy collapse [Al Jazeera (al-jazeera.com)]. A surge in international electricity price, as the country now relies entirely on interconnections.
To control the situation, Prime Minister Péter Magyar introduced urgent emergency measures. The government issued a decree ordering civil servants to switch to remote work at the beginning of the week, freight train traffic was suspended during the evening rush hour, and decorative lighting on public buildings was turned off [Nova.bg (nova.bg/news/view/2026/08/01/546278/%D0%B0%D0%B5%D1%86-%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%88-%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B6%D0%B5-%D0%B4%D0%B0-%D0%B1%D1%8A%D0%B4%D0%B5-%D1%81%D0%BF%D1%80%D1%8F%D0%BD%D0%B0-%D0%BE%D1%89% D0%B5-%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%B7%D0%B8-%D1%83%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B4-%D0%B7%D0%B0%D1%8F%D0%B2%D0%B8-%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80-%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%B4%D1%8F%D1%80/)].
Large-scale electricity imports from neighboring countries
The energy system operator MAVIR is authorized to impose mandatory restrictions on industrial giants, while households will remain the last protected group in the chain [Reuters (reuters.com)]. The shortage in the network will be compensated by increased emergency electricity imports from neighboring countries in the region [Argus Media (argusmedia.com)]. However, this places an additional burden on Hungary's state budget.
The situation is identical throughout the Balkan region – Romania has also begun phasing out a nuclear reactor at its Black Water plant due to the critical state of the Danube River [Euronews (euronews.com)]. Hungary's nuclear power plant is expected to remain out of service for weeks until weather conditions allow for a permanent restoration of the river's flow [Focus News (focus-news.net/novini/mejdunarodni/Rekordno-niskoto-nivo-na-Dunavmozhe-da-spre-AEC-Paksh-za-purvi-put-ot-44-godini-3003923)].