Brussels, 13/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - Hungary acknowledged on Friday 13 March that the European Commission had raised objections to its plans to extend the Paks nuclear power station, with Russia financing 80% of the costs through a loan of up to €10 billion.
“The talks taking place are not holding up the project”, stated Hungarian government spokesperson Zoltan Kovacs, indicating that he expected the issue with the Commission to be resolved “within a few weeks”. Budapest had earlier firmly rejected the claim made the previous day in the British daily Financial Times that the Commission had decided to block the agreement. “We are not blocking construction of Paks-2”, confirmed Commission spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen.
Hungary and Russia signed an agreement in January 2014 to extend the Paks power plant, which already generates 40% of Hungary's electricity. The proposed extension, costing €12.5 billion, would see the construction, beginning in 2018, of two 1,200 megawatt reactors, the first of which would come into service in 2023.
Supply agency Euratom refuses to approve the agreement, on the grounds that the nuclear fuel used would come from one single source, Russia. On Friday, the Commission, through its spokesperson Itkonen, confirmed that this point was central to the discussions. (Emmanuel Hagry)