All four reactors at the Paks nuclear power station are to be brought to a complete halt within 72 hours after the Danube river dropped to its lowest level in recorded history, Prime Minister Péter Magyar has announced, threatening rolling blackouts as a punishing heatwave drives electricity demand to its peak.
A historic hydrological crisis
In an emergency address on Friday, Magyar confirmed that water levels near the plant had plummeted to -121 cm, shattering the previous record low set in 2018 by 28 cm. With forecasts predicting the river will continue to shrink, the short-term restart of the reactors has been ruled impossible. “The situation is unprecedented, but it is not an emergency,” Magyar stated, insisting that all actions were being taken with the maximum safety protocols in place.
The station’s head of communications, Antal Kovács, explained to the local media that while the Soviet-designed facility was engineered to withstand the lowest water levels of the last century, the current drop has fallen completely outside all calculated scenarios.
Grid strained by a 2,400-megawatt gap
The shutdown of the Paks plant, which provides roughly half of Hungary’s domestic electricity generation, could not have come at a worse time. By Monday, 2,000 megawatts of low-carbon power will be stripped from the national grid. This is compounded by a separate technical failure at the 400-megawatt Dunamenti power station, creating a staggering total shortfall of 2,400 MW.
Grid operator MAVIR projects a 20% surge in consumption during the evening peak between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m., driven by sweltering households and public institutions. “Demand from the population and budget-funded bodies continues to rise due to the intensifying heat,” Magyar warned.
Industry told to power down
In a desperate bid to avert a systemic collapse, the government has ordered MAVIR to compel dozens of heavy industrial users — including battery factories, cement works, chemical plants, and car manufacturers — to drastically curb their energy use. Alongside this, emergency legislation is being fast-tracked to allow for the forced disconnection of large consumers should voluntary cuts prove insufficient.
Magyar called on the public to show restraint, specifically urging Hungarians to reschedule the use of energy-intensive appliances, including electric vehicle chargers and air conditioning units, away from the critical evening window. Government buildings have also been ordered to reduce their consumption.
Rotating blackouts on standby
As a contingency of last resort, the prime minister confirmed that a rotating schedule of disconnections has been drawn up, to be activated if reserves, imports, and voluntary restrictions fail to balance the grid. He offered reassurance that hospitals, social care facilities, and critical infrastructure would be ring-fenced from any cuts.
“We are working to avoid more serious restrictions and to ensure Hungary functions safely in the coming days,” he also said.
A preventable catastrophe?
The crisis casts a sharp light on a long-acknowledged vulnerability. Magyar stated that the difficulty with the station’s water supply had been identified long ago and a new pumping station could have averted the current disaster. However, he alleged the previous administration had diverted the necessary funds elsewhere, leaving the critical infrastructure unbuilt.
Just a day earlier, Magyar had sought to calm nerves by citing Hungary’s capacity to import between 3,600 and 3,800 MW, insisting a total Paks shutdown would not trigger a collapse. Friday’s developments proved otherwise, with the simultaneous loss of two stations and record demand overwhelming the theoretical safety net.
Situated 100 km south of Budapest on the banks of the Danube, Paks is Hungary’s sole nuclear facility. Built to Soviet specifications and commissioned between 1982 and 1987, the plant provides over 40% of the nation’s electricity production and covers roughly a third of its total energy consumption.
