Hungary's Paks Nuclear Plant on the Brink of Shutdown
Prime Minister Peter Magyar confirmed the situation is stabilizing, but the fate of Hungary's most important power plant remains uncertain due to weather conditions in Austria.
Prime Minister Peter Magyar confirmed the situation is stabilizing, but the fate of Hungary's most important power plant remains uncertain due to weather conditions in Austria.
Hungary's Paks nuclear power plant was on the brink of a complete shutdown overnight, according to Prime Minister Peter Magyar. A critical drop in the Danube's water level led to a halt in operations in the early morning hours, but the situation began to stabilize by morning.
Prime Minister Magyar detailed the dramatic night hours in a post on X. "At around 1:30 AM (11:30 PM GMT on August 3, 2026), we were just millimeters away from a complete shutdown of the Paks nuclear power plant, but the drop in the water level was halted at that point," said Peter Magyar. By morning, the water level had risen by 1.5 centimeters, averting the worst-case scenario.
Magyar wrote on X that he had "personally inquired" about the current situation at Paks, adding that "the Danube's water level has already risen by 3 centimeters compared to the critical level recorded at the time of the shutdown early this morning." N1 Serbia reports Magyar's statement of a 3 cm rise, while TASS cites a rise of 1.5 cm.
Despite the critical night, electricity production did not come to a complete halt. "At this moment, the last remaining block is operating normally," Magyar confirmed. In a separate post on X, he added that "the fourth turbine of Block 2 is running standardly and stably producing electricity."
The Hungarian Prime Minister emphasized that "everyone at Paks is working to maintain electricity production from the last turbine" and thanked the workers for their efforts. He noted that the future situation will depend on the work of experts at the plant, the Danube's water level, precipitation in the catchment areas in Austria, and the functioning of equipment and other technical parameters.
The Paks nuclear power plant is a key energy facility for Hungary, and any potential complete shutdown would have serious consequences for the stability of the electricity system in the region. Although there is no direct connection to Croatia, Hungary's energy security is important for all of Central Europe.
Magyar warned that it is uncertain "whether Hungary's most important power plant will manage to avoid a complete shutdown in the coming days and whether the turbines that have already been shut down will be able to restart." A key factor will be the amount of precipitation in Austria, whose catchment areas feed the Danube.
