Hungary has been forced to shut down its Paks nuclear plant entirely for the first time in 44 years, escalating an energy crisis driven by the Danube's record-low water levels. Prime Minister Péter Magyar urged corporations and the public to cut electricity use between 17:00 and 22:00 on Monday, as the government prepares emergency measures including rotating power disconnections to protect essential services. Production at Paks, the country's sole nuclear facility, could fall from 2,000 to 960 megawatts as the river sits 121 cm below its previous record low.
The drought's toll on nuclear generation extended beyond Hungary. In Romania, both reactors at the Cernavodă plant — the country's only nuclear facility — are now offline for the first time due to low Danube levels, with the second unit shut down on Thursday. In France, high temperatures prompted the shutdown of a reactor at the Golfech plant, north of Toulouse.
Hungary is enduring its fourth heatwave of the summer, with a level-three heat alert in effect and temperatures exceeding 39°C.