Hungary Sinks Barges to Prevent Paks Nuclear Plant Shutdown

The Government of Hungary is implementing emergency interventions on the Danube River to prevent the total shutdown of the Paks nuclear power plant. A historic drought and extreme heat waves have reduced river levels to record lows, forcing the plant—which provides roughly one-third of the nation's electricity—to drop from 25% capacity to just over 10% of its 2,000 megawatt output.

Prime Minister Peter Magyar announced a two-pronged strategy to raise upstream water levels. Authorities planned to sink two 80-meter barges near the plant's cooling pumps on Saturday to provide an immediate 20-centimeter lift in water levels. This short-term measure is being paired with the construction of a permanent riverbed sill using 145,000 cubic meters of rock, which is expected to raise water levels by up to one meter.

Magyar noted that without these actions, water levels were forecast to hit a critical threshold of minus 132 to 140 centimeters by early next week, potentially halting all operations. The economic impact of the reduced output is estimated at 50 billion forints per month, while the interventions will cost 6 billion forints. The crisis mirrors a recent situation in Romania, where the last working reactor was shut down due to low river levels, prompting Hungary to use a pre-modelled approach to avoid similar rapid failures.