Emergency Measures at Paks
The Hungarian government has launched an urgent engineering operation on the Danube River to prevent the complete shutdown of the Paks nuclear power plant. Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced that persistent drought and extreme heat have forced water levels to record lows, threatening the cooling systems of the country’s only nuclear facility. The plant, which generates approximately one-third of Hungary’s electricity, is currently operating at roughly 10% of its 2,000-megawatt capacity.
To stabilize water levels at the cooling pumps, authorities began the construction of a riverbed sill on Thursday. This structure, composed of roughly 145,000 cubic meters of rock, is designed to slow the river’s current and raise upstream levels by up to one meter. The operation is being supported by military personnel to ensure rapid deployment, with a total project cost estimated at 6 billion forints ($19 million).
The Potential for Further Intervention
Beyond the sill construction, the government is weighing the emergency sinking of two 80-meter (262-foot) barges near the site. If implemented, this measure could increase the water level at the cooling intake by an additional 20 centimeters. A final decision regarding the barges is expected by Friday. Prime Minister Magyar emphasized that the government can no longer view these water shortages as isolated events, labeling the intervention as a necessary long-term strategy to preserve energy security.
The economic stakes are significant. Current output restrictions at Paks are reportedly costing the Hungarian economy up to 50 billion forints ($158 million) per month. The government’s decision to prioritize these engineering interventions reflects the immediate threat of a total plant shutdown, which would cause widespread energy instability across the region.
Regional Context
Hungary’s struggle reflects a broader crisis facing European energy infrastructure. Similar measures were recently deployed in Romania, where authorities sank four barges filled with rock into the Danube to redirect water toward the Cernavoda nuclear plant. That facility had already been forced to shut down one of its two reactors due to insufficient cooling water availability. As European nations grapple with the intersection of climate change and critical infrastructure, the Paks project highlights the increasing reliance on stopgap measures to maintain essential power grids.