BUDAPEST, August 2. /TASS/. The Paks Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in Hungary will be shut down on August 2 due to the critical decline of the Danube River water levels caused by severe heatwaves, Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar announced. [1]

"Due to a further drop in the Danube's water level, the second-to-last power unit at the Paks NPP will be shut down at 1:30 a.m. on August 2 [11:30 p.m. GMT August 1]. Consequently, the plant's capacity will drop to 240 megawatts, and [this] morning, for the first time in 44 years, it will be completely halted," the Hungarian prime minister wrote on his Facebook page (banned in Russia as an asset of Meta, which is recognized as an extremist organization in Russia).

Earlier Reuters reported that Magyar had warned of a potential multi-week shutdown at the Paks NPP as record-low water levels in the Danube hamper reactor cooling operations. The plant was originally expected to halt operations on August 3.

Due to extreme heat and drought gripping Central Europe, the Danube's water levels have plunged to historic lows. Hungarian Economy and Energy Minister Istvan Kapitany described the severe shallow water crisis as unprecedented for the country.