Hungary plans Danube River interventions to keep nuclear plant operating amid record low water levels

Hungary is launching emergency engineering interventions on the Danube River, including building a bed sill and potentially sinking barges, to raise water levels by up to one meter. Severe drought has reduced the river to record lows, forcing Hungary's Paks nuclear plant to operate at just 10% capacity and costing the economy 50 billion forints ($158 million) monthly. Similar emergency measures were recently deployed in Romania to protect its Cernavoda nuclear plant.

Danube record low levels

• ▪Persistent drought and extreme heat waves in mid-2026 reduced the Danube River to record low water levels.
• ▪The Danube River provides drinking water to approximately 10 million people across the 10 countries it passes through or borders.

Nuclear plant cooling crisis

• ▪Hungary's Paks nuclear power plant operated at little more than 10% of its 2,000 megawatt capacity in August 2026 due to low Danube River water levels.
• ▪The Paks nuclear power plant was pushed to the brink of a complete shutdown in August 2026 for the first time in its 44-year history.
• ▪Romania's Cernavoda nuclear power plant shut down one of its two reactors in early August 2026 due to low water levels on the Danube River.

Emergency river engineering interventions

• ▪Hungarian authorities prepared two 80-meter barges to potentially be sunk near Paks on August 14, 2026, to raise the Danube River level by up to 20 centimeters.
• ▪Romanian authorities blasted a rock formation with nearly 400 pounds of explosives and sank four rock-laden barges in early August 2026 to redirect Danube River water toward the Cernavoda nuclear plant.
• ▪Hungarian authorities planned to begin constructing a bed sill in the Danube River on August 13, 2026, to raise upstream water levels by up to one meter.

Economic energy supply impacts

• ▪The Paks nuclear power plant normally supplies Hungary with approximately one-third to 40% of its electricity.
• ▪The planned Danube River engineering interventions near Paks are estimated to cost Hungary approximately 6 billion forints ($19 million).
• ▪Prime Minister Péter Magyar stated that operating the Paks nuclear power plant at its reduced output costs Hungary's economy up to 50 billion forints ($158 million) per month.
• ▪The Hungarian parliament delayed sessions to save energy, and Budapest turned off decorative lighting on state-owned buildings and bridges in August 2026.

Shipping tourism disruptions

• ▪Low water levels on the Danube River stranded more than a dozen tourist and leisure vessels in Bratislava in August 2026.
• ▪Cargo ships on the Danube River are carrying reduced loads due to shallow water depths, though the waterway remains navigable.

2 sources