Hungarian FM Szijjártó highlights strict environmental standards for battery plants in Parliament hearing

Hungarian authorities require battery manufacturers to comply with the strictest environmental regulations, just as in other sectors, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said at a hearing of parliament’s sustainable development committee on Wednesday.

Battery plants must comply with regulations ensuring manufacturing activities pose no health risks, Szijjártó said, while highlighting the importance of protecting farmland and the water base, too. He added that battery manufacturing was “indispensable” for the electromobility transition and achieving climate goals.

Szijjártó dismissed “fake news” concerning the upgrade of the Paks nuclear power plant and said the first preliminary safety report on the investment was under evaluation by the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority. He acknowledged the importance of keeping the temperature of water in the Danube, which is used for cooling at the plant, within the allowed thresholds, but noted that the Paks NPP had originally been planned for six, rather than four, blocks.

Szijjártó said an agreement with China on cooperation in the area of nuclear energy had “nothing to do” with uranium mining or storage of spent fuel. Rather it concerns new technology: small modular reactors, he added.

He said Hungary was getting 4.5bn cubic metres of gas a year under an agreement from Russia. The government signs supplementary commercial contracts from time to time to ensure that gas is purchased at a competitive price, he added.