BUDAPEST: Projections show that there will be a shortage of energy capacity in Hungary in 2030 after the current Paks nuclear power station expansion project is completed, so further development plans are needed, János Süli, the minister in charge of the upgrade project, told a hearing in parliament’s national security committee on Wednesday. In response to a question by green opposition LMP’s co-leader Bernadett Szél concerning a possible “Paks 3”, Süli said no physical space for further blocks would be available at Paks following the current expansion, and a large base power station would be needed in addition, which included not only a nuclear power station but also solar, wind and water generation. The committee’s (Socialist) head, Zsolt Molnár, called for a permanent committee to be set up to monitor the current Paks 2 project. Süli said if parliament decided to set up such a committee, the government would support it. Concerning the planned expansion to be carried out by Russia‘s Rosatom, state secretary in charge of maintaining Paks, Attila Aszódi, said rules stipulate the protection of each side’s business secrets. The Hungarian side has no objections concerning the publication of information which is not classified data, but the Russian main contractor also has the right of veto, he added. Szél asked whether the Hungarian government bore responsibility for the current 22 month delay in the expansion project whether the Hungarian taxpayers would bear any additional costs. She also repeated a demand for the exact total cost of the project to be revealed. Aszódi said in response that the budget law included the allocations for Paks each year, so this data was in the public domain. Commenting on the delay, he said the European Commission was carrying out an in-depth examination of the project at the request of the Hungarian government. This has resulted in a stand-still which was neither the Hungarian nor the Russian side’s responsibility. The basic contract and the fixed price remains the same, however, he added. In August, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said preliminary work on the 12 billion dollar Paks upgrade would start in January next year.
