Government Requests Exemption from US Sanctions for the Paks II Project
February 28, 2025
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Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi (L) and Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó (R)
The government has requested a waiver for the Paks II project from the sanctions imposed by the previous US administration as political revenge, which are hampering the progress of the project, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in Budapest on Thursday.
Following his talks with the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, the Minister pointed out that Hungary is working on expanding its nuclear capacity, and that the operating life of the Paks power plant currently in operation is to be extended by 20 years. He added that the construction of new reactor units is also underway and the Agency is continuously monitoring this process.
“The soil stabilization work under both nuclear islands has been completed. In total, 43,000 piles are already in the ground, which means 57 percent completion of the preparatory work, and we are steadily moving towards the moment of pouring the first concrete,” he said.
“I must say, however, that the outgoing Biden administration, a few days before leaving the White House for good, took a series of sanctions in political revenge, which are hampering the progress of the Paks project,” he stressed. “That is why I reached an agreement last week in Washington to grant a waiver for the Paks II project for the future security of Hungary’s energy supply, as the work is already underway and beyond the point of no return,” he continued.
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He explained that energy security is also a sovereignty issue, as there is no energy security in Hungary without nuclear energy.
Therefore, if there will be sanctions packages in the European Union in the future, we will continue to prevent them from including provisions affecting the nuclear industry.
There are some fanatical member states in the European Union that try to force nuclear energy into every sanctions package they discuss. We have resisted this so far and we will not allow sanctions against the nuclear industry in Europe in the future,” he emphasized.
Péter Szijjártó said the visit of the IAEA Director General was timely, given the perhaps unprecedented growth of nuclear energy in the world as the only way to meet the ever-increasing demand for electricity in a safe, sustainable and cheap way. He deplored the recent ideological debates on the use of nuclear energy, that have been completely devoid of common sense and facts. He cited the example of the closure of power plants in Germany by the Greens.
We consider the recent ideological attacks on nuclear energy to be absolutely contrary to European interests,”
he added. He stressed that Europe, where people are currently paying the highest energy prices in the world, could only regain its competitiveness through nuclear energy.
Finally, the Minister warned that Europe’s physical security is closely linked to nuclear security, and that Hungary highly appreciates the work of the IAEA and of the Director General himself, who continues to be able to talk to both the Ukrainians and the Russians. Péter Szijjártó also called on the Ukrainian authorities not to obstruct the work and rotation of the mission at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and added that they expected the Russian side to cooperate as well.
The Foreign Minister emphasized yesterday that despite the constant difficulties and obstacles, the Paks II project is still going ahead, “just with a little more effort.” He wrote on his Facebook page that he had a telephone conversation with Alexey Likhachev, the CEO of Rosatom, on the matter on Thursday.
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