Abstract: A steam turbine having a cooling option, in which steam is taken from the flow channel, the steam cooling the thrust-compensating intermediate floor, being mixed with a small amount of live steam and being returned to the flow channel. A method cools the steam turbine, wherein steam is extracted from the high-pressure region and is fed to a space between the thrust-compensating partition wall and inner casing, wherein steam from the space between the thrust-compensating partition wall and the inner casing is fed via a first cross feedback passage to the high-pressure region.