Hungary's only nuclear power plant, Paks, faces a complete shutdown for the first time due to the historically low water levels of the River Danube. Prime Minister Péter Magyar stated that the Soviet-era plant, which relies on the Danube for cooling, can no longer access the water.
Mr. Magyar warned that Hungary's energy supply could become "critical" from Monday, attributing this to the Paks shutdown and an ongoing heatwave, with temperatures expected to remain around 37C for a week. He urged Hungarians to limit energy-intensive activities between 17:00 and 22:00, such as charging electric cars and using air conditioning.
In Romania, one of the two nuclear reactors at the Cernavoda power plant, which supplies approximately 20% of the country's power, has already been shut down earlier this week due to the low Danube levels. State-owned Nuclearelectrica is attempting to avoid closing the second reactor.
The Danube's water levels have reached their lowest in 30 years in several countries, including neighbouring Serbia and Romania. The National Institute of Hydrology in Romania reported that the average river flow where the Danube enters the country was 1,600 cubic metres per second on Wednesday, down from a typical July average of 4,700 cubic metres per second. It is forecast to fall further to 1,500 cubic metres per second by Tuesday.
Shipping has ceased on the river in Bulgaria, and border police had to evacuate 186 river cruise passengers earlier this week after their ship ran aground near Vidin. Ivan Zhekov, head of river supervision at Bulgaria's maritime administration agency, noted that such low levels have not been seen since 1990.
Serbian hydrologist Dejan Vladiković indicated that the problems stem from both current high temperatures and low rainfall during the spring. He told Serbian TV channel N1 that Danube levels are at a 50 to 60-year low, with no expected improvement until mid-September. Temperatures in Serbia are forecast to reach 38C on Friday, and locally up to 40C.