Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said that Hungary is negotiating to further increase the role of the French Framatome in the project for the expansion of the country sole nuclear power plant Paks, in order to prevent the German Government from blocking the supply of control technology.
Minister Szijjarto stressed that NPP Paks expansion, one of the most significant investments in Hungary’s history, could not be successful without French cooperation, as the control technology system is being manufactured by a German-French consortium.
However, the German Government has still not approved Siemens Energy’s participation. He added that the Hungarian Government is therefore negotiating a further increase in the role of the French Framatome so that Germany could no longer block the arrival of control technology.
The control system is being supplied by a German -French consortium, but as this is now a dual-use technology from a legal point of view, the current European regulatory environment requires the relevant national export authority to authorize its civilian use. This has already been done in the case of France, but not yet with Germany.
In January 2014, Hungarian Government has signed deal with Russia`s Rosatom, with a goal to increase output of the power plant, from current 2,000 MW to 4,400 MW by adding two more reactors.
Under the agreement, Russia will provide 10 billion euros loan for the construction of new unit in existing NPP, which is around 80 % of estimated construction cost. According to initial plan, first unit was supposed to become operational in 2023. The latest estimates put the start of production at new units in 2029-2030.
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