Hungary-UK to start nuclear industrial strategic cooperation

Hungary and the UK are launching strategic cooperation for the rapid deployment of small modular nuclear reactors, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign affairs and trade minister, said after meeting British counterpart David Lammy in London on Tuesday.

Szijjártó noted the “good atmosphere” during his first official meeting with Lammy, which he said was “further proof of mutual respect” between the two countries, even though they viewed certain geopolitical issues differently. This was no barrier to both sides attaching “strategic importance” to bilateral ties, a ministry statement quoted him as saying. Brexit, he said, was regrettable as “much common sense exited Brussels” as a result and the balance between federalists and sovereignists had been “disrupted”. It was in Hungary’s interest, he said, for relations between the EU and the UK to be as close as possible to “the benefit of all sides”.

Szijjártó noted the importance of nuclear energy in Hungary and the UK, adding that they had supported each other’s nuclear developments in recent years. Referring to the breakthrough of small modular reactors, he said the power plants could be built on an area the size of a football field in 1-3 years, sufficient to power a small settlement or a larger factory “in an efficient and environmentally friendly way”. Hungary would be interested in tapping this technology, he said, noting that Hungary is landlocked and “hardly abundant in energy resources”. “So nuclear energy is the real solution for us,” he added, noting that Rolls-Royce was among the leading companies in the sector. The minister said Hungary was ready to take part both in developing and using the nuclear technology.