OREANDA-NEWS “Austria must also accept that Hungary decides for itself the manner in which it wishes to provide for the coverage of its energy requirements”, Ministerial Commissioner for maintaining the output of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant Attila Aszódi stressed in an interview for Austrian newspaper Der Standard.

“We are not in such a lucky situation as Austria, which has a multitude of mountain rivers that are suitable for generating electricity. To us, nuclear energy represents the only carbon dioxide-free energy resource that is capable to covering our requirements independently of the weather in a stable manner”, he explained.

Mr. Aszódi pointed out that four nuclear reactors blocks constructed between 1982 and 1987 currently generate electricity in Paks. The life-span of these blocks has been extended by 20 years from the original 30, and the two new blocks that will be built during the upcoming decade will serve to replace these in the 2030s.

In reply to a question regarding the fact that Austria could attack the expansion of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant citing unlawful state funding, the Ministerial Commissioner stressed that although the Austrian Government naturally had every right to do so, Hungary’s opinion that was that such a legal action would not succeed. “Hungary nevertheless hopes that similarly to all the other EU member states Austria will also accept the fact that Hungary also has the right to itself determine how it wants to cover its energy requirements”, he said, pointing out that the European Commission performed a detailed analysis of the Paks project for over eighteen months before giving Hungary the green light.

In contrast to the claims made by critics of the Paks 2 project, the investment does not go hand in hand with any kind of “Russian influence”, Mr. Aszódi said in reply to a question on the subject. “The main contractor is a subsidiary of Russia’s Rosatom energy company and Atomstroyexport will be realising the project together with several international contractors, and the Paks 2 power station will be 100% owned and operated by the Hungarian state”, he said.

“The contract has been made public and can be read by anyone, and the loan is not tied to any kind of political condition”, the Ministerial Commissioner emphasised. “The project is using Russian financing simply because it is very difficult to find other sources of financing for the special loan construction required by the project. Construction will take ten years and the loan must be repaid within 21 years, in addition to which Hungary will have the opportunity to effect early repayment of the loan at any time, which is extremely favourable”, he explained.

“Every country in the region imports energy from Russia; both Austria and Slovakia are purchasing Russian gas, Germany has constructed the North Stream gas pipeline and is planning to build a second pair of pipelines, and gas imports represent a much higher level of energy dependency than the construction of a nuclear power plant, the required fuel for which can be purchased years in advance and stored safely”, he highlighted. “If we don’t construct a power station then we will have to import more natural gas to cover our energy requirements”, the Ministerial Commissioner pointed out.