Danube's record low levels force shutdown of Hungary's only nuclear plant
Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia are also grappling with the effects of a series of prolonged heatwaves and low rainfall.
Hungary's sole nuclear power plant faces an unprecedented complete shutdown due to critically low water levels in the Danube River, as announced by Prime Minister Péter Magyar. The Soviet-era Paks facility, which relies on the Danube for cooling, can no longer access the water with its suction nozzles.
Magyar warned that Hungary's energy supply could become "critical" starting Monday, attributing this to the Paks shutdown and an ongoing heatwave, which is expected to keep temperatures around 37C for a week. Hungary, like much of Europe, has experienced significantly reduced rainfall and elevated temperatures throughout the summer.
The Danube's water levels have plummeted to a 30-year low in several nations, including neighboring Serbia and Romania. In response, Magyar urged Hungarians to conserve energy between 5:00 PM and 10:00 PM, specifically advising against charging electric vehicles and using air conditioning. He also mentioned the possibility of a "rotational shutdown regime" if other conservation efforts prove insufficient to stabilize the national grid, adding that the government would identify electricity and water consumers whose usage could be limited.
Weeks of extreme heat and drought have exposed large sections of the riverbed in central Budapest.
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. The first of the two 706-megawatt reactors ceased operation earlier this week due to the Danube's low levels. State-owned Nuclearelectrica was attempting to prevent the closure of the second reactor on Thursday. If the second reactor is also shut down, Romania, like Hungary, will temporarily lose all nuclear energy production.
Climate change is driving a global increase in temperatures, with Europe experiencing a particularly rapid warming trend. According to the Copernicus climate service, Europe is the fastest-warming continent, heating up twice as fast as the global average. This phenomenon is leading to more frequent summer heatwaves, increased strain on Europe's water resources, and more intense wildfires.
Among the historical artifacts revealed by the Danube's receding waters was a World War Two German warship at Prahovo, Serbia.
Romania's National Institute of Hydrology reported that the average river flow where the Danube enters the country is typically 4,700 cubic meters per second in July. However, on Wednesday, it had fallen to less than a third of that, at 1,600 cubic meters per second. The institute forecasts a further drop to 1,500 cubic meters per second by Tuesday.
The Danube spans 2,857 kilometers (1,775 miles) and flows through 19 countries. The Upper Danube stretches from Germany to Bratislava, the Slovak capital; the middle basin runs from Bratislava to the border between Serbia and Romania; and the Lower Danube extends through Romania and Bulgaria into the three main branches of the Danube Delta, which empty into the Black Sea.
The low water levels have led to several unexpected discoveries. The remains of a sunken Hungarian cargo ship resurfaced in Croatia, while the hulks of a German river flotilla were observed in Serbia. Additionally, a resident of Ruse, a city in northeastern Bulgaria, found bones on the Danube riverbed, which experts identified as the remains of a mammoth, including a lower jaw, two tusks, and possibly a rib.
River flow in Serbia on the Danube is currently one-third of the average for July.
Shipping has come to a standstill on the river in Bulgaria. Border police had to evacuate 186 river cruise passengers from the Viking Ullur ship earlier this week after it ran aground near Vidin, a city on the border with Romania. Passengers faced dwindling supplies of food and water because the cruise ship could not dock in Vidin, and a rescue boat was unable to get close enough.
"I have never heard of such low levels over the years. There has certainly not been a similar situation since 1990," Ivan Zhekov, head of river supervision at Bulgaria's maritime administration agency, told BTA news agency.
Boats are visible on the dried-out Danube riverbed in front of the Calafat-Vidin bridge, which connects Bulgaria and Romania.
The issue of low river levels extends beyond the Danube. In Serbia, the Sava and Tisa rivers, both tributaries of the Danube, are also experiencing very low levels. Serbian hydrologist Dejan Vladiković attributed these problems not only to the current high temperatures but also to insufficient rainfall during the spring. He informed Serbian TV channel N1 that the Danube's levels are at a 50 to 60-year low, and climatologists do not anticipate any improvement until mid-September.
Temperatures in Serbia are projected to reach as high as 38C on Friday, with local highs up to 40C, and nighttime temperatures in Belgrade as high as 26C.
Elsewhere in Europe, forecasters predict that fire-prone conditions will spread towards central Europe, with Greece and Turkey among the most severely affected countries. Vast areas of France and Spain have recently experienced some of the most intense and widespread wildfires in living memory, leading to hundreds of thousands of evacuations.