IAEA General Assembly – Orbán cabinet insists on the construction of the Russian nuclear power plant

Hungary will not back any measure that would directly or indirectly endanger the project to expand the Paks nuclear power plant, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said on Monday on the sidelines of the plenary session of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Assembly in Vienna.

With Europe heading towards recession, serious energy problems threaten to overwhelm it, the minister told journalists, referring to skyrocketing energy prices and disruption to East-West supply chains. Without nuclear inputs, energy would be neither secure nor affordable, he said, adding that nuclear energy capacity was tantamount to “our sovereignty”.

The minister noted Hungary’s 40 years-plus of “positive” experiences in the use of nuclear energy, calling it “cheap and sustainable”.

The first package of European Union sanctions left nuclear power untouched, Szijjártó noted. He added, however, that there were now “regrettable” moves afoot in the EU to place various obstacles in front of nuclear investments.

Szijjártó said the government would take any measure by the EU and its institutions that hindered the Paks expansion as “an attack on our sovereignty”, adding that secure energy supplies were “a matter of sovereignty”.

The minister said the two new Paks reactors would meet the highest safety standards, adding that the international project led by Rosatom also involves American, French and German companies as subcontractors.

Now that the final construction permit has been awarded, it is anticipated that the first concrete foundations will be set in autumn of next year and the plant would come online in 2030, Szijjártó said. Hungary will then avoid emitting 70 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, he added.

Read alsoIAEA General Assembly – Orbán cabinet insists on the construction of the Russian nuclear power plant

“The energy mix falls under our national powers, so we have the right to build the power plant,” the minister said. In the absence of EU sanctions on nuclear energy, hindering such investments would breach EU rules, he added.