Hungary is negotiating a further increase of the role of French company Framatome in the expansion of the Paks nuclear power plant to prevent the German government from blocking the delivery of control technology, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Monday in Flamanville, France.
During his visit to the company’s nuclear power plant, the minister stated that one of Hungary’s most significant investments in history, the expansion of Paks, cannot be successful without French cooperation because the controlling hardware that is considered the ‘soul’ of the power plant is being manufactured by a French–German consortium.
‘At least it should be manufacturing and delivering it,’ he emphasised, underlining that the German government has not yet approved Siemens Energy’s participation. ‘This is an absolutely unfair behaviour on the part of the German government because the issue of energy supply is a national competence, and energy security is a matter of sovereignty,’ the minister said.
He added that the Hungarian government is negotiating to further increase the role of French company Framatome in the Paks project, to prevent Berlin from blocking the arrival of control technology. ‘In order to have a Western European control system in the Paks nuclear power plant, we are expanding Hungarian-French nuclear cooperation and further increasing the role of Framatome in the Paks investment,’ he announced.
Szijjártó Péter also pointed out that the global energy supply crisis arose due to the war in Ukraine and the sanctions imposed in response, while the pressure on the world is increasing due to the effects of climate change.
‘In the future, two things need to be solved in the field of energy supply. We need to have a safe, cheap, and long-term, reliable energy supply that also takes environmental considerations into account,’ he said. ‘It is clear that nuclear energy can satisfy these two goals,’ he emphasised.
The minister stated that Hungary plays an important leadership role in nuclear energy in Europe and is a member of the nuclear coalition led by France, which clearly pursues a ‘rational energy policy.’
‘Important cooperation has been established between France and Hungary in the field of nuclear energy, which now has practical consequences and ramifications,’ he reminded.
