BUDAPEST, March 27. /TASS/. Rosatom has denied reports that Hungary was considering terminating cooperation with the Russian nuclear state corporation to build the second stage of the Paks nuclear power plant.
Earlier, the Financial Times wrote that Budapest was forced to consider a scenario in which Moscow would withdraw from the Paks-2 project due to the influence of Western sanctions.
When asked to comment on this report, a representative of Rosatom-Central Europe told TASS that during consultations with Rosatom, Hungarian partners did not raise the issue of possibly terminating cooperation.
"This issue has not been discussed," said the representative of Rosatom-Central Europe.
"Rosatom confirms its readiness to implement the Paks-2 NPP project and is confident that new power units will be built together with the Hungarian customer using the state-of-the-art and safe VVER-1200 technology," the company, headquartered in Budapest, emphasized.
TASS also turned to the Hungarian Foreign Ministry with a request to comment on the FT article but has not yet received a response.
On March 23, the British newspaper reported that Hungary had begun talks with France to expand its role in building the nuclear plant, thus potentially replacing Russia in the project.
Negotiations with France and Russia
Hungary has indeed begun negotiations with the French company Framatom, but they concern the participation of the German company Siemens Energy in the project. The German government does not want to issue the necessary license to Siemens Energy.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, who oversees the project in Paks, called this situation unacceptable. In accordance with the contract, Siemens, in consortium with Framatom, is to supply a process control system for the new Hungarian nuclear power plant. The minister admitted that the French company would, if necessary, expand its participation in Paks-2 if the German Siemens exited.
Hungary continues to cooperate with Russia on the project. On March 23, Szijjarto said he had a telephone conversation with Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev, in which the two discussed "the investment schedule for the coming months." The Foreign Minister also assured that Hungary will do everything it can to ensure that nuclear energy does not fall under sanctions and that construction of the Paks-2 nuclear power plant with Russian participation continues.
About Paks 2 project
The Paks NPP, which was built with Soviet technologies, and which uses Russian nuclear fuel, provides half of all generated and one third of consumed electricity in Hungary. At present, four power units with VVER-440 reactors operate at the station built about 100 kilometers south of Budapest on the banks of the Danube. Currently, preparations are underway for the construction of two new power units designed by Rosatom. At the same time, preparations are underway for the construction of facilities as part of the second stage of the Rosatom project. Specifically, those new units are called Paks-2. The Hungarian government expects that after two new VVER-1200 nuclear reactors are commissioned, the plant's capacity will increase from its current levels of 2,000 MW to 4,400 MW.
As Szijjarto said earlier, Moscow confirmed its readiness to finance this project, which is estimated at 12.5 billion euros and which from the very beginning was supposed to be 80% funded by a Russian loan.
In October 2021, JSC Rusatom - Automated Control Systems (RASU, a subsidiary of Rosatom) and the Franco-German consortium Framatome SAS-Siemens AG signed an agreement in Moscow on the manufacture and commissioning of automated process control systems for two new power units of the Paks NPP. Earlier, as part of this project, a contract was signed for the manufacture of turbines by GE Hungary Kft, which is a Hungarian subsidiary of US company General Electric. With this in mind, the withdrawal of nuclear energy from EU sanctions is of particular importance for the Paks-2 project.