Danube drought forces shutdown of Paks nuclear plant
Record-low water levels on the Danube have forced Hungary to shut down the Paks nuclear power plant, while simultaneously exposing prehistoric mammoth remains and Second World War wrecks along the waterway.
Hungary has been forced to shut down its Paks nuclear power plant because water levels in the Danube have dropped too low to guarantee the facility's cooling. The closure underscores the immediate economic and infrastructural strain caused by a severe drought currently gripping a waterway that serves as a vital artery for ten European countries, running from south-west Germany to the Black Sea.
The severity of the drought is visible across the riverbed. Near the Bulgarian village of Ryahovo, receding waters have exposed the jawbone, tusks, shoulder blade, ribs and other fragments of a woolly mammoth. Researchers at the Regional History Museum in Ruse identified the remains as belonging to "Mammuthus primigenius", a species that existed from around 500,000 to 800,000 years ago until about 7,000 to 10,000 years ago.
Museum curator Krasimir Kirov noted that the animal stood almost five metres tall and weighed more than seven to eight tonnes. He said it may have been carried to the location by the Danube, a river where the remains of prehistoric animals have accumulated over millennia. Because the bones have been exposed to water for so long, they are highly vulnerable to deterioration in the open air and are being removed with great care. Once conserved and studied, they will go on display at the Ruse museum, around thirty kilometres from the discovery site.
Ancient wrecks resurface
The mammoth skeleton is not the only relic brought to the surface by the record-low waters. In Serbia, German warships dating back to the Second World War have reappeared at Prahovo. Similar wrecks have also surfaced in Hungary, near the town of Mohács. Along much of its course, the river has retreated to reveal rocks and sandbanks that are rarely visible.
For European energy markets and public infrastructure, the forced shutdown at Paks represents the most critical consequence of this environmental shift. Nuclear power plants depend on large, consistent water flows to operate safely, meaning prolonged low levels pose a direct threat to regional power generation. The current crisis demonstrates how extreme weather is increasingly disrupting continental energy supplies and exposing long-buried history in equal measure.
