On Thursday 22 February, Austria’s minister for the environment brought before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) a case against the go-ahead given by the European Commission to the construction by Hungary of two new nuclear reactors, largely financed by Russia as part of the Paks-2 project.
Austria’s complaint concerns the building of two new 1,200-Megawatt reactors as part of an extension to the Hungarian nuclear plant in Paks, as set out in the agreement signed between Hungary and Russia in January 2004.
Russia is to finance 80% of the cost of the project evaluated at €12.5 billion, via a loan to Hungary of up to €10 billion.
The new reactors are to replace the four reactors working since the 1980s on the Paks site. These reactors provide half of all electricity production in Hungary.
In March 2017, the European Commission authorised construction of the new reactors (see EUROPE 11739), taking the view that the amount of Russian aid was limited and proportionate to the objectives pursued. Austria challenges this.
The case put forward by Austria, which is a fierce objector to nuclear energy, is not only motivated by legal arguments. The Austrian minister for the environment states “this is an important step towards countering nuclear energy in Europe and for safe and sustainable means of electricity production”.
In 2015, Vienna had already filed a complaint against subsidies foreseen for the EPR reactors to be built by the French group EDF at Hinkley Point, in the United Kingdom.
In Hungary, Paks-2 has aroused criticism from the opposition which denounces the lack of transparency in the attribution, without call for tenders, of the contract to the Russian group, Rosatom. The secret surrounding the contract was fixed at 30 years by the Hungarian parliament.
The Hungarian electricity company, MVM, which operates the power plant, has expressed doubt about the profitability of the two future reactors, the first of which, in principle, is to be operating in 2023. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)