Following talks with Alexey Likhachev, chief executive of Rosatom, Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said additional groundwork will soon begin to prepare the site for the expansion of Hungary's Paks nuclear power plant.
Minister Szijjártó welcomed the European Commission’s approval of the modifications to the contracts of the plant’s expansion which he said would make it possible to speed up the construction of the two new blocks with the project applying the strictest nuclear safety regulations. The minister noted that work to thoroughly prepare the site for ensuring a safe operation of the new blocks will begin in early July. Minister Szijjártó said both he and the Rosatom chief had expressed their commitment towards ensuring that the two new blocks should be put into operation at the beginning of the next decade. “We have so far managed to ensure that no sanctions are imposed on the nuclear energy sector,” he said. “At the same time, we know full well that sanctions do exist not only in written but in an unwritten form.” Minister Szijjártó urged foreign actors he said were “keen to either block or slow down the expansion project” not to do so, because “they will fail”, and because “we cannot accept them jeopardising the safety of our energy supplies.”