Paks nuclear plant project

Siemens’ new plant inaugurated in Hungary

siemens new plant in hungary

Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said that the new investments by Siemens Energy “are of special significance” in Hungary, in his address at the inauguration ceremony in Budapest on Thursday.

siemens new plant in hungary
Siemens Energy Ltd.’s new factory building in Budapest on the day of the inauguration ceremony, 23 May 2024. Photo: MTI/Máthé Zoltán

The local unit of the German-owned company inaugurated a production hall and a training centre and installed a 1.5MW solar park in a 26 billion forint (EUR 67m) investment at its base in the capital.

The investment was supported with a 900 million forint government grant, Szijjártó said.

Inauguration of new Siemens factory

siemens plant in hungary szijjártó
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, speaks at the inauguration ceremony of the new Siemens Energy Ltd. factory in Budapest, Hungary, 23 May 2024. Photo: MTI/Máthé Zoltán

The new unit will make gas turbine burner heads, the minister added.

He noted that Siemens Energy’s revenue from its Hungarian operations has doubled, its headcount increased by 400 and the company has spent close to 50 billion forints on capital investments since it signed a strategic partnership with the government.

He noted that Siemens Energy, jointly with France’s Framatome, won the contract to supply the control system for the new blocks of the Paks nuclear power plant.

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Hungary’s government rejects pressure on energy policy

szijjártó

Hungary’s government rejects all attempts at political pressure on where it buys its energy, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said in Tokyo on Tuesday, adding that national interests would always determine the government’s energy policy.

The three major crises faced by the world over the last five years all had a negative impact on energy markets, putting countries without a coastline or an abundance of gas or oil fields in an especially difficult situation, Szijjártó said at the Global Energy Security Talks conference, according to a ministry statement.

In his address, Szijjártó warned of mounting ideological and political pressure on energy markets, saying the recent period had demonstrated the importance of carrying out a responsible energy policy. He said this involved the government ensuring a country’s uninterrupted energy supply while also taking into consideration environmental protection aspects.

Szijjártó said this was only possible “if we get rid of the ideological approach and . if we get rid of hypocrisy”. Hungary, he added, stood by its position that energy supply was not a matter of ideology or politics, but one of physics and mathematics.

He noted that the sanctions imposed in response to the war in Ukraine had resulted in an energy crisis, while western Europeans “are proud of themselves that they got rid of Russian energy sources”. He added, however, that in reality, they were instead importing oil through third countries like India, and Russia also had the biggest share of western European LNG imports.

The minister also discussed the problem of pressure to diversify energy sources when the European Union did not want to contribute to infrastructure developments and spoke out against discrimination against nuclear energy.

Szijjártó said the Hungarian government rejected all forms of political pressure on where it chooses to buy its energy from and would always choose the best solution according to national interests.

He said decisions concerning the energy mix must remain within the EU’s national competence, and they should also consider a member state’s circumstances.

Hungary, he said, viewed the green transition as a means to preserving the planet rather as a political ideology or a monopoly. He added that Hungary was one of 21 countries that had managed to increase its GDP while reducing its harmful emissions.

Szijjártó underlined the need to find a balance between boosting competitiveness and environmental protection.

He highlighted three prerequisites for a responsible, carbon-neutral global energy policy of the future. The first, he said, was to ensure the role of nuclear energy, arguing that industrial growth would double the demand for electricity by the end of the decade, and nuclear reactors were the cheapest, safest and most sustainable energy sources for satisfying it.

He noted that the ongoing upgrade of Hungary’s Paks nuclear power plant involved a Russian general contractor in addition to American, German and French companies, adding that this could offer hope for a return to peaceful international cooperation.

Szijjártó said the second requirement was the transport sector’s transition to electric vehicles, on which a political decision has already been made in Europe. He added that this was also impossible without global cooperation, highlighting Hungary as a key meeting point for the sector’s Eastern and Western players.

Thirdly, Szijjártó underlined the need infrastructure developments related to energy supply, saying there was “no unnecessary infrastructure”.

He said the Hungarian government understood “diversification” of its energy supply to mean tapping new sources rather than replacing existing ones. He said this process was under way despite the EU not financing infrastructure developments in southeast Europe, arguing that gas would no longer be part of the energy mix in 15 years’ time.

“They might be right . but there are 14 winters to go, for which we have to ensure the safe supply of energy,” he said, adding that it was important to “avoid any kind of aggressive, artificially quick phase-out of gas from the national energy mixes”.

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Czech President Petr Pavel: Too many interests prevent Orbán from confronting Putin

petr pavel le monde interview

We have to be prepared for the fact that Russia will not be our peaceful partner, Petr Pavel Czech President said. He also expressed his disagreement with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico and said that Russia would harm Europe.

Petr Pavel: Russia will harm Europe

petr pavel le monde interview
Petr Pavel giving an interview to the French daily Le Monde. Source: Facebook/Petr Pavel

Russia will harm Europe and will not be satisfied with acquiring part of Ukraine, Czech President Petr Pavel told the Austrian daily Die Presse. In the interview reviewed by hvg.hu, he also said that he does not agree with Orbán, Fico and Pellegrini that it would be easy to declare peace in the war.

“If we accept Moscow’s terms, it means that the whole of Ukraine will remain under Russian control,” says the Czech president. He believes this would mean replacing the democratically elected Ukrainian government with a Kremlin vassal.

According to Pavel, Hungary and Russia are linked by many interests, especially economic ones, and

until the new Paks power plant is up and running, it is hard to imagine Viktor Orbán strongly condemning the Kremlin’s policies.

He said that Ukraine is only one of the issues dividing the Visegrád community (the Visegrád/V4 countries are the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia – ed.). The President said that a longer confrontation between Europe and Russia is beginning, and it will not necessarily be a military confrontation.

“They want to restore the imperial greatness of the Soviet Union, including their sphere of influence at the time, and they say so very openly. We must therefore take this seriously. We must be prepared for the fact that Russia will not be our peaceful partner,” Pavel said.

Moscow has already emerged as a “destructive force” in many European countries, spreading propaganda and blatant lies,

he added. “If we want to maintain security and prosperity in this part of Europe, we need to set clear limits for Russia. Failure to do so could lead to serious complications in the future,” said the Czech President.

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Hungarian FM Szijjártó: We won two battles in Brussels

szijjártó nuclear energy

The world will need a huge amount of electricity to operate heating and cooling systems, industrial growth, and the transition to electromobility, the foreign minister said on Friday.

Péter Szijjártó said on Facebook that the only cheap, efficient, safe and environmentally friendly way to satisfy increasing demand was nuclear energy.

“It is therefore very important that we have won two battles in Brussels, when the European Union recognised nuclear energy as sustainable and when we prevented the sanctions to be imposed on it,” Szijjártó said.

He said China was at the forefront of developing nuclear technologies and in in Hungary “a comprehensive nuclear ecosystem has developed”. As a result, “we have a vested interest in developing such nuclear cooperation”, he added.

“Based on talks with leaders of the China National Nuclear Corporation today, I was convinced that that interest is not one-sided,” Szijjártó said.

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Chinese could emerge around Paks II construction in Hungary

Paks ii nuclear power plant

It is possible that Chinese companies may also appear around Paks II. Currently, the possibilities of applying their experience in nuclear power construction to the Hungarian project are being investigated.

Will Paks II see Chinese intervention?

There is a possibility that Chinese companies may also appear around Paks II, and they are currently investigating the possibilities of applying their experience in nuclear power construction to the Hungarian project. Among other things, this is what Gergely Jákli, CEO of Paks II Plc., talked about in an interview with Portfolio.

Jákli said that when the French prime contractor for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant in England was asked about the background of the project, they were directed to their Chinese counterpart. The reason is that there are 52 nuclear power plants under construction in China and the French prime contractor has brought Chinese people into the project.

“Three giant companies cover the entire nuclear industry in China, and so we are absolutely looking at points of cooperation,” said the CEO.

Jákli also said in the interview that the sum of EUR 12.5 billion “remains in place” with the Russian prime contractor, but added that the projected costs of building a nuclear power plant in Western Europe had not been met anywhere else, so it would be “irresponsible” to say more now.

Szijjártó: Manufacturing of Paks 2 reactor vessel underway in St Petersburg

The melt trap manufactured for the new reactor blocks in Paks is ready, and another large component, the reactor vessel, is under manufacturing in St Peterburg, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said on Friday.

Responding to a question at a press conference on another matter, Péter Szijjártó said the manufacturing of those components was a “milestone”. The melt trap will arrive in Hungary in the summer, ahead of schedule, he said.

The reactor vessel, “the heart of the reactor, is where the actual chain reaction happens,” will be 11 meters high and 4.5 meters in diameter, with a 30cm wall, Szijjártó said. It will weigh 330 tonnes, he added. The reactor vessel will have to be operational for at least 60 years “in 330 degrees Celsius, under 162 Bars of pressure”, he said.

The Paks upgrade is progressing according to schedule, Szijjártó added. The start of the new blocks in the beginning of the new decade will mean a great step towards energy security, he said.

Szijjártó: Campaign against Chinese companies damaging to European economy

The close links between German and Chinese companies are obvious from Hungary, and it is not clear what they talk about in Brussels and they probably have no idea how the electric car transition happens in the real world, the foreign minister said on Friday.

The ministry cited Szijjártó as saying in response to a question at a joint press conference with Czech counterpart Jan Lipavsky that when the European Union takes action against Chinese companies, they should look at Hungary and see that the largest German and Chinese companies very closely cooperate in the car industry.

“I think that the campaign against Chinese companies is also damaging for the European economy because we can see the close interlinks between German and Chinese companies, and we can also see that certain German company strategies, whose success is also in Europe’s interest, cannot be successful without Chinese suppliers,” he said.

“It is possible to manufacture ideologies and say that something is politically unacceptable, but the facts are facts,” he added.

He said he was looking forward to the upcoming Chinese presidential visit to Hungary and added that details would be announced on April 29.

In response to a question concerning a possible Hungary-Ukraine summit, he said this could take place only after the ethnic Hungarian community in Transcarpathia gets back the rights they had had before 2015.

“Only when the rights are restored, not when promises are made, can a summit be held,” he said. “We are ready for it. Our expectations are clear, and we have submitted them in eleven points,” he added. “I am continually in talks with my colleagues [Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy] Yermak and [Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro] Kuleba, and they know what we would like, they know what we expect, and I hope at some point they will take them into consideration,” he said.

In response to a question concerning the approval of a US support package for Ukraine, he said assessing the decision should be left to US voters who will have the opportunity in November to express their opinion about what future they wish for the world in terms of peace or war.

“We sincerely hope that the decision will take the world closer to peace and not towards the escalation of war,” he added.

“We believe that weapons supplies extend the war and result in further people dying, further destruction, and whereas we are aware that this position is in a significant minority in Europe, but it still exists, and we still maintain this position,” he said.

Szijjártó said only a diplomatic settlement could end the conflict and every warring side must sit at the table for peace talks.

He reiterated that the government attributed great importance to Visegrad cooperation and there has always been more areas where the affected countries were in agreement than those where they were not in agreement. Only the current difference in opinion concerning the Ukraine war is rather striking, he added.

“I hope that all four of us will be wise enough to recognise that there are ten times more matters in which we agree (…) and we represent our position together in these because that is best for everyone,” he said.

He assured Lipavsky of his support for the decision to meet Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony later in the day, adding that it was completely normal and should not be criticised if a guest also meets other political players.

He added that he would also meet non-government party politicians during various foreign visits, as was the case recently in Prague.

Szijjártó: Hungary planning ‘real central European’ EU presidency

Hungary plans to focus during its upcoming European Union presidency on issues that are important to central Europe, such as the fight against migration, enlargement to the Western Balkans and energy security, the foreign minister said on Friday.

Péter Szijjártó told a joint press conference with Czech counterpart Jan Lipavsky that the current visit was during an extremely difficult period when the world faces severe challenges, but this could hopefully strengthen the central European common experience because the countries of the region are most affected by the consequences of the war underway in their neighbourhood.

One of the main goals of the upcoming EU presidency is to stop the decline of the community, and the other is to pursue a real central European presidency, Szijjártó said. He added that the latter meant that Hungary would focus on issues that are important to central Europe.

Special attention will be paid to the success of the fight against illegal migration, speeding up EU enlargement in the western Balkans, and guaranteeing energy security, he said.

The dramatic effects of migration waves has been directly experienced in central Europe since 2015, and serious regional cooperation has been necessary to stop the flow of migrants, he added.

“Czech, Slovak and Polish police helped us and still help us at the southern borders of Hungary to keep outside the illegal migrants threatening Europe,” he said. “The continued joint efforts of four central European prime ministers have been necessary to keep the issue of quotas under control and not allow thousands or tens of thousands of illegal migrants to roam around uncontrollably,” he added.

Szijjártó said “we will continue to resist the pressure concerning quotas”.

Commenting on EU enlargement in the western Balkans, he said it was undeserving that candidates in the region had been waiting for accession for 14 years and 11 months, which he said undermined the credibility of EU policies.

“This is a situation that must be resolved, therefore the Hungarian presidency has a clear agenda to help the countries in the western Balkans to speed up the accession process,” he said.

He also talked about energy security, stating that both countries were planning nuclear developments and therefore they would continue to stand up against negative dsicrimination concerning nuclear energy in Brussels.

“Nuclear energy is a sustainable way of producing energy, it is a safe, environmentally friendly and cheap method for producing large amounts of electricity,” he said.

“It helps maintain and improve the competitiveness of central Europe, so we do not want to give it up, and we are ready to involve Czech companies in Hungarian nuclear development projects, and we are also in a good position for Hungarian companies to ensure their presence in the area of nuclear developments in the Czech Republic,” he added.

Commenting on Hungary-Czech cooperation, he said that Czechia was Hungary’s sixth largest trade partner and bilateral trade surpassed 14 billion euros last year, a record. Czechia is also the fourth most important target for Hungarian investments.

Szijjártó recalled that recently efforts have been made to create joint ventures in the transport and defence industries and that Hungarian oil and gas company MOL operates over 300 filling stations in Czechia.

He also said that Visegrad cooperation – between Hungary, Czechia, Poland and Slovakia – has always played and still plays an important role in the Hungarian foreign policy strategy.

“Visegrad cooperation contributes to improving central Europe’s competitiveness and security, and it brings all of us closer to fulfilling our national goals,” he added.

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Guest workers: new law may simplify Chinese and Russian immigration to Hungary

guest worker workers guest workers in Hungary Orbán cabinet

Several proposals were submitted to the Parliament that would simplify the employment process of guest workers in Hungary. The amendments are said to be needed due to the increased labour demand related to the expansion of the Paks II nuclear power plant and the construction of the railway line between Budapest and Belgrade.

A number of minor legislative amendment proposals were submitted to the Parliament by the Business Development Committee, Index.hu reports. Among the possible changes, the one that is the most attention-catching is related to the expansion of the Paks nuclear power plant and the renovation of the Budapest-Belgrade railway line.

Third-country guest workers to get residence permits more easily

guest workers
Photo: depositphotos.com

As the news site writes, the amendment would simplify the process through which guest workers from a third country (that is, from outside the European Union) receive a residence permit for the purpose of employment in Hungary. The goal of the new legislation is to secure the extra manpower that is needed for the two projects as soon as possible.

Currently, based on the Immigration Act, the residence permit for workers from third countries is valid until the completion of the development they are employed in, or for a maximum of three years.

Based on the new laws, guest workers involved with the Paks II and Budapest-Belgrade projects could receive a residence permit for up to five years, and even their family members would be able to apply for a residence permit in the country through a simplified procedure.

Népszava explains that while the extension of the Paks-related permits is understandable since the reactors will be completed by 2035 at the earliest, the possibility that the construction of the Budapest-Belgrade railway line will take another five years is a surprise.

There are currently 120,000 guest workers in Hungary, but the Orbán government would consider it necessary to import 300,000 or even half a million guest workers in the coming years, Népszava reports.

Index.hu points out that Sándor Czomba, the state secretary responsible for employment policy, said in an interview a few days ago that guest workers will not displace Hungarians from their jobs.

Do the simplifications pose a security risk?

Railway Hungary Budapest-Belgrade
Photo: FB

As Népszava, who noticed the law amendment proposal, highlights, there is no legal restriction on which workers from which countries would benefit from the amendment. However, based on the background of the investments, in the case of Paks, mostly Russian workers can be expected to come to Hungary, while in the case of the Budapest-Belgrade railway line, it is mainly Chinese workers who will likely be employed.

The paper therefore states:

“The Orbán government’s proposal on simplified employment for Chinese and Russian citizens also poses a national security risk, since the secret services of the two countries are active in Hungary, for whom these laws will provide a simplified access to the European Union.”

Read also:

  • Atomexpo 2024 in Sochi: Hungarian Foreign Minister announces another milestone at the Paks nuclear power plant – HERE
  • SHOCKING: Hungary’s guest worker numbers exposed! – Read HERE

Featured image: depositphotos.com

Enhancing energy sovereignty important for Hungary, Orbán cabinet says

Energy electricity MAVIR consumption (Copy)

Enhancing energy sovereignty is an important goal for Hungary, and renewables, natural gas power plants and nuclear energy are needed to achieve that, the energy ministry’s state secretary told a conference focusing on green energy and Hungary’s climate policy on Tuesday evening.

Speaking about renewable energy sources, Attila Steiner highlighted “the best potential” Hungary had in solar energy, noting the country’s current capacity of over 6,000 MW.

“This combined with the output of the Paks nuclear plant goes to show that Hungary is capable of producing 8,000 MW of CO2-free electricity, if there is sunshine,” he said, adding that periods without sunshine created a problem.

This is why storing energy is key, he said. Steiner noted the launch of a subsidy scheme for building huge storages that will allow increasing the current capacity of 25 MW to 400-500 MW.

Steiner said that by 2030 Hungary’s electricity consumption will increase by 50 percent, due partly to general industrial development considerations, electric car and battery plants, which he said are all electricity-intensive areas.

“We should not be afraid of this, but we need to create conditions and launch investments that allow moving into this direction, because this will be the key to Hungary’s economy in the future.”

Read also:

  • Fidesz: Brussels applies double standards to Hungary and Germany – Read more HERE
  • Hungary to be in the top 5 in green energy storage worldwide by 2030, says official – details in THIS article

Atomexpo 2024 in Sochi: Hungarian Foreign Minister announces another milestone at the Paks nuclear power plant

szijjártó atomexpo paks sochi

Atomexpo 2024 in Sochi: the upgrade of Hungary’s nuclear power plant in Paks will stand as a “long-term guarantee” of Hungary’s competitiveness, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said after meeting Alexei Likhachev, the head of Russian nuclear energy company Rosatom, in Sochi on Monday.

At the meeting held with the chief executive of the general contractor of the Paks plant expansion, Szijjártó reviewed the status of the construction project, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The upgrade would secure Hungary’s electricity supply for decades to come, Szijjártó said, adding that the Paks plant would supply 70 percent of the country’s demand and provide “a great degree of independence from the occasionally insane changes in the international energy market as well as from skyrocketing prices”.

Szijjártó said

works on the project were nearing another “milestone” as one of the melt traps, a key safety element in nuclear plants, has been completed and is expected to be shipped to Hungary in the second quarter of the year after the necessary tests.

Meanwhile, the minister welcomed that soil consolidation by German, American and other subcontractors was under way at the site.

“Those milestones … forecast that we can pour the first concrete by the end of the year and that the two new reactor blocks can start operations early in the next decade,” he added.

Speaking at the Atomexpo nuclear energy trade fair later in the day, Szijjártó called for nuclear energy to remain a field of international cooperation, lamenting that the field was riddled with ideological debates.

“As long as infrastructure determines energy cooperation, ideology should have nothing to do with [it],” he said.

He said that whereas nuclear energy had been “a victim of ideology” recently, Europe had “overcome” discrimination, “thanks mostly to the fact that France is a pro-nuclear country”, he said. “We were able to win our debates in Europe and make it recognised that generating electricity in a nuclear way is sustainable, safe and cheap,” he said.

Szijjártó said that severing nuclear cooperation between Europe and Russia “would be another dent in the continent’s competitiveness”, putting the EU’s green goals at risk.

He said criticism of Hungary on the issue was “hypocritical” as Rosatom was working with sub-contractors from the US, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria and Sweden at the Paks site.

“This means … on the corporate level at least, decision-makers have not lost their common sense yet,” Szijjártó said, adding that Hungary would not adopt EU sanctions against the Russian nuclear sector, as doing so would harm Hungary’s interests.

Banning nuclear cooperation would also be “strange”, as Russia was also the largest Uranium supplier to the US last year, exporting ore worth some 1 billion dollars in 2023, he added.

“I do hope that in the future rationality and common sense will prevail … and the nuclear industry will be exempt from ideological debates. I hope that we will only concentrate on professional and scientific issues…”

In Sochi, Szijjártó also met representatives of the Serbian, Turkish, Iraqi and Belorussian government.

Rosatom’s chief negotiates in Hungary

rosatom

The first concrete foundation piles for the Paks nuclear power plant expansion will be set into the ground by the end of the year, Péter Szijjártó said on Tuesday.

A ministry statement quoted the foreign minister as saying at a joint press conference with Alexei Likhachev, head of the Russian nuclear energy company Rosatom, that an equally important milestone is the completion of the first melt trap produced in Russia.

The 700-tonne melt trap is scheduled to be delivered in the autumn, while production of the reactor tank will start in April, he said.

Work on soil consolidation across 17 hectares is underway, with 8,000 out of 75,000 piles already in place. A German company is carrying out this work, which is scheduled to be completed by next summer.

Szijjártó said the project was “progressing at a good steady pace,” and it was achievable for the two new blocks to be hooked up to the grid by the start of the next decade, he said.

The minister added that the Paks expansion was “a real international” project involving German, French, Austrian, Swedish, and American subcontractors.

Read more news about Paks nuclear plant project.

Hungarian Paks upgrade progressing on schedule

Paks ii nuclear power plant

The upgrade of the Paks nuclear plant in central Hungary is progressing on schedule, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said on Tuesday, adding that the project would ensure Hungary’s energy policy, preserve the utility cut scheme and further boost environmental protection.

Speaking on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting in Sopronbanfalva, in north-west Hungary, Péter Szijjártó said he had recently talked to Alexey Likhachev, the CEO of Russian Rosatom tasked with the upgrade.

Szijjártó said the talks had been one of a series of regular consultations to review the progress of the project.

The works are proceeding according to plan, with soil stabilising works currently under way, he said. “The first concrete pour, a watershed moment in the construction of a nuclear plant, is expected to happen by the end of the year,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority had green-lighted the current phase of the construction, and the procurement of further permits is under way, he added.

Recent amendments to the nuclear energy act had cut the red tape around the investment, significantly easing the paperwork while adhering to all safety requirements, he added.

The upgrade will double Hungary’s nuclear capacity, he said, “and energy security is a large component of sovereignty.”

Szijjártó said the past few years had shown that energy independence was key to a country’s sovereignty. The two new reactor blocks would raise nuclear energy’s share in Hungary’s electricity supplies to 70 percent, he said. Along with planned solar capacity increases, Hungary would be close to self-sufficiency, he said.

Imports of natural gas were expected to be reduced by 3-3.5 billion cubic meters a year, he said. Carbon dioxide emissions are expected to fall by up to 17 million tonnes, he added.

Szijjártó said that Likhachev was expected in Hungary in the near future, “to review the progress and connected legal issues.”

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FM Szijjártó: Nuclear energy faces discrimination and ideological attacks

Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó

Hungary is creating new energy links with neighboring states, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said in Athens on Friday, adding that the past period had shown that the more links there were, the more secure the respective countries involved were.

Energy supply in future would rely on producing large amounts of cheap and green electricity, and nuclear energy was indispensible to this aim, Szijjártó said at a meeting of a working group on strengthening energy connections in Central and South-Eastern Europe (CESEC).

Hopefully, central and south-eastern European countries would unite to combat “discrimination and ideological attacks against nuclear energy”, he added.

After the expansion of Hungary’s sole nuclear power station in Paks, nuclear capacity in Hungary would increase from 2,000 megawatts to 4,400 megawatts by the beginning of the next decade, the minister said.

The regional energy network, he said, must be expanded as soon as possible so as to maximise the benefits of mutual developments.

He referred to major infrastructure development projects which the government and several neighboring countries had agreed to. The capacity of the 400 kilovolt transmission line between Hungary and Serbia will be doubled, and construction of a new high-voltage connection between Hungary and Romania is in the planning phase, he noted.

Szijjártó said Hungary, Serbia and Slovenia had requested EU funding for a new central European regional electricity exchange, and agreements with the relevant companies have already been signed. It is planned that the system will be operational by the end of the first half of this year, he added.

Such projects, he added, not only served the interests of Serbian, Romanian, Hungarian and Slovenian citizens, but the interests of all European citizens too.

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Paks nuclear plant’s lifespan planned to be extended considerably

Paks ii nuclear power plant

MVM Paksi Atomerőmű, the company running the Paks nuclear plant, has announced the extension of the plant’s lifespan to the European Union, company head Péter János Horváth said on Tuesday.

The October announcement was the first step in a decade-long process that would prolong the plant’s operating licence until 2052-57, he said.

The two already operating blocks of the plant went online between 1982 and 1987, he said. Their lifespan was extended once already, until 2032-37.

Nuclear energy and sustainable resources are both key to a secure energy supply, he told a press conference ahead of the tour of parts of the plant for journalists.

Hungary’s electricity demand is expected to grow by 150 percent by 2030, he said.

While the Russian supplier of the plant has been a reliable partner for four decades, Horvath said the plant was looking into ways to diversify its supply lines.

Deputy Director Pál Tóth said the extension would require the completion of some 250 reconstruction projects, half of which are expected to cost more than one billion forints (EUR 2.6m). Revamping the electric and control systems would be in the 1.5-billion-euro range, he said.

Mihály Czibula, the leader of the extension project, said the implementation plans are expected to be submitted in 2028.

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Chinese, Russian agreements, Paks 2 contracts will be reviewed?

paks expansion

Opposition Párbeszéd will ask the Sovereignty Protection Authority, once it is set up, to review contracts signed for the Paks 2 nuclear power station project and certain agreements with China and Russia, Benedek Jávor who is heading the party’s list for the upcoming European Parliament election said on Saturday.

The newly set-up Sovereignty Protection Authority will be tasked with “pestering civilians, opposition politicians and journalists, pursuing smear campaigns, and producing Russian-type kompromats”, he said. He added that these were tasks that have nothing to do with Hungary’s sovereignty but “they will involve removing the remains of democracy”.

At the same time, Jávor said action should be taken to protect Hungary’s sovereignty, with recent years’ efforts by Russia and China to gain influence “with methods known from the Balkans and the third world, by developing economic and political dependencies”.

Pátbeszéd will ask the Sovereignty Protection Authority to review a Russian-Hungarian nuclear cooperation agreement, the Paks expansion contracts including its financing deals, Hungary’s long-term gas supply contracts and gas transport agreements, the Budapest-Belgrade railway construction agreement, and the case of a Chinese loan provided to MVM, he said.

Jávor said these contracts need to be reviewed in order to reveal how Russia and China interfere in Hungary’s domestic affairs.

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Paks expansion in construction phase, timetable signed

paks expansion

The expansion of the Paks nuclear power plant has gone beyond paperwork and the construction phase is well under way, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign affairs and trade minister said on Tuesday at the signing of the construction timetable for the upcoming years.

In the 2030s the new blocks can start producing electricity, he told a joint press conference held with Alexey Likhachev, head of Russian nuclear energy company Rosatom, hailing construction of the new reactors.

“Today we signed the schedule for the next few years … and we will be able to connect the new nuclear power plant to the grid at the start of the next decade,” Szijjártó said.

Paks is now the largest nuclear project in Europe with a construction permit, he noted. Besides the Russian main contractor, sub-contractors include several American, German, French, Swedish, Austrian companies, as well as a large number of Hungarian companies, he noted.

Soil excavation has taken place to a depth of five meters under each block, and the next stage is reaching a depth of 23 meters, he said, adding that 60 buildings will be built in the next six months.

Thanks to the investment, Hungary will remain among twenty countries in the world whose economies grow while they reduce harmful emissions, he said, explaining that the new blocks will mean avoiding the emission of 17 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.

Rosatom said in a statement that Russia has begun work on equipment for the upgrade project that takes longer to manufacture, such as the reactor pressure vessel, the zone melt trap system and the reactors and their installations.

The project is constantly adding staff, Rosatom said, adding that 800-900 people are expected to be working at the construction site by the end of the year, and around 2,000 by the end of 2024. Around 10,000-13,000 people will be working at the site at the peak of the construction phase, the statement said.

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Foreign minister: The two new blocks in Paks will be absolutely ‘Fukushima-proof’

Paks Nuclear Plant Hungary

The upgrade of Hungary’s Paks nuclear plant applies the most stringent safety and environmental protection standards, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said on Monday.

The two new reactor blocks being built will be protected by a doubly reinforced concrete wall structure capable of withstanding even the most severe external pressures, Péter Szijjártó told parliament’s sustainable development committee, according to a ministry statement.

“The two new blocks will be absolutely ‘Fukushima-proof’,” the minister said, explaining that the reinforced concrete structure protecting the nuclear facility was capable of withstanding external pressures even as big as a plane crash.

Initial groundwork is under way at the site, and construction permits have been obtained for several buildings, Szijjártó said. Construction of equipment with long production times is also ongoing, and a German-American joint venture is building the diaphragm wall, he added.

“I’d like to assure you that everything happening in Paks adheres to the most stringent safety and environmental protection standards,” he told the committee.

In addition to the 94 Hungarian companies involved in the project, there are American, French, German, Swedish and Austrian sub-contractors working at the construction site, he said.

Szijjártó said measures aimed at improving competitiveness and environmental protection needed to go hand-in-hand, arguing that upsetting the balance between those two objectives could do more harm than good.

He noted that Hungary’s National Energy and Climate Strategy calls for a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared with 1990 levels. Emissions, he added, had fallen by 32 percent so far, while the country was achieving “huge economic records” each year.

Hungary is one of just 20 countries that has managed to increase its GDP while reducing its harmful emissions, Szijjártó said.

Meanwhile, the minister underlined the importance of guaranteeing energy security even during the country’s transition to green energy. “This requires that we treat the green cause as a grounded issue rather than some sort of political and ideological monopoly,” he said.

Szijjártó said European Union member states were set to see a 50 percent increase in their electricity consumption by 2030.

He said nuclear energy was the only source that allowed for a safe, cheap, and sustainable way of producing energy while helping the country to stay relatively independent of the fluctuations of international energy markets.

“There’s a huge debate about this in the European Union. with member states divided,” he said. Szijjártó said that while Hungary wanted to keep the debate rational, most of the issues raised were political and ideological in nature.

Fully 65 percent of Hungary’s energy production is carbon neutral and 80 percent of that is provided by nuclear energy, Szijjártó said.

He said the ecological footprint of nuclear plants relative to their lifespans was no greater than that of carbon-neutral technologies. Also, the upgraded Paks plant will enable carbon dioxide emissions to be reduced by 17 million tonnes and gas use by 3.5 billion cubic metres annually, he added, noting that Hungary’s transport sector produces an annual 12 million tonnes in CO2 emissions, while the country’s forested areas absorb 6 million tonnes of CO2 a year.

Concerning solar power, Szijjártó said the capacity of solar panels operating in Hungary reached 4,000 MW last year, accounting for 13 percent of electricity production, among the three best ratios in the EU.

Solar power capacity has reached 5,400 MW by October this year, with over 2,100 MW generated by home solar panels, the minister said.

He said this meant that Hungary was on pace to reach a solar power capacity of 6,000 MW well before the original target year of 2030, and that it could also move up its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 to 2040.

As we wrote before: here is PM Orbán’s new ally to hack the EU: Macron and the French plutocracy, details HERE.

PHOTOS: Nuclear fuel rods arrived from Russia again

Paks nuclear fuel rods

Another shipment of fuel rods from Russia for the Paks nuclear power plant has arrived in Hungary, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said on Saturday.

The delivery, the third one this year, was brought by ship across the Black Sea, then by train through Bulgaria and Romania, in compliance with the strictest safety regulations, Péter Szijjártó said in a statement issued by his ministry.

“With regard to the operation of the Paks nuclear power plant, we have fuel rods at our disposal on site for a good long time,” he added.

He said delivery of fuel rods would continue according to contract, adding that cooperation with Hungary’s Russian partners was “excellent” in terms of the quality of the fuel rods and scheduling of deliveries.

He noted that the Paks nuclear power plant accounts for about half of the electricity generated in Hungary. Here are some photos of the shipment:

HERE is an article about the Russia-Hungary energy cooperation. In THIS article, you may read about PM Orbán’s forming alliance with President Macron and the French plutocracy in which an important segment is the Paks nuclear power plant project.

Foreign minister in Moscow: Paks upgrade taps Russian, US, German, French tech

Foreign minister Szijjártó

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Moscow that he hoped the cooperation based on mutual respect would one day be restored between the European Union and Russia, because it was once a baseline for long-term economic growth.

Speaking at a panel discussion at the Russian Energy Week late on Friday, Szijjártó said European economic growth once had been based on a combination of cutting-edge western technology and relatively cheap eastern energy resources. By now, that model has fallen apart, he said.

Responding a question, Szijjártó said nuclear energy was key to safe, cheap, balanced and sustainable energy. The upgrade of Hungary’s nuclear plant in Paks will increase capacity by 2,400 mega-Watts and forestall the emission of 17 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, he said.

Hungary, he said, regarded all “attacks” on nuclear energy as “unacceptable”, especially since European concerns “are always based on ideology and devoid of facts”.

Besides Russia’s Rosatom, the project taps US, German and French technologies, he said.

“This goes to show that the nuclear industry still allows for international cooperation based on rational thinking and respect,” he added.

Szijjártó said Hungary would never condone sanctions on nuclear energy.

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Hungarian Foreign Minister stands up for energy cooperation with Russia

russia szijjártó

Hungary’s energy supplies are safe, with natural gas reserves at 62 percent of the annual demand, as Russian suppliers are committed to fulfilling their contractual obligations, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said in Moscow on Friday.

Péter Szijjártó said it was “natural” that he attended the Russian Energy Week forum and was holding talks on future cooperation in energy supplies, as fulfilling Hungary’s energy demand “remains physically impossible without Russian resources”.

Ensuring energy supplies is not a political issue but that of resources and delivery routes, he said. “We can’t heat with press conferences and thunderous declarations or political statements.”

Hungary also needs Russian technology and fuel for its nuclear industry, he said.

So far, Hungary has received all natural gas, crude oil and nuclear fuel contracted with Russian companies, he said.

Crude deliveries are uninterrupted through Ukraine, Szijjártó said, expressing hope that the route wouldn’t be “ruined through financial, political or physical means”.

While Hungary has already stored 62 percent of its annual demand in natural gas, the EU average of reserves is 29 percent, he said.

At the same time, “attempts are ongoing to make Hungarian-Russian cooperation impossible,” Szijjártó warned.

Szijjártó insisted that one of those attempts was a Bulgarian draft legislation that would drastically raise the transit fees on Russian gas and would cease deliveries should payments fall out.

He called the Bulgarian legislation “unacceptable”. “For one European Union member state to endanger another’s gas supplies clearly runs afoul of European regulations and solidarity,” he said.

Szijjártó said he was in talks with Bulgaria and Serbia on preventing that Bulgarian laws should pose difficulties for Hungary and Serbia.

On another topic, the minister welcomed that construction work had started on Hungary’s Paks nuclear plant expansion.

International cooperation remains broad in the nuclear industry, he said. A US company is working on the plant upgrade besides others. Also, “in the first half of this year, the US bought a record 416 tonnes of Uranium from Russia,” he said.

The Paks upgrade has gained new momentum as international cooperation started there, “so connecting the two new blocks to the electric grid in the beginning of the next decade remains a realistic goal,” the foreign minister said.

“Hungary maintains its sensible politics, where representing national interests and the security of energy supplies are the only priority,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Szijjártó met Russian Deputy Prime Ministers Denis Manturov and Alexander Novak, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko and Oleg Matytsin, the minister of sports.