Nuclear power in Hungary: green, cheap and independent? | Europe | News and current events from all over the continent | DW

While Germany is pulling out of nuclear power and many EU countries have no nuclear power plants at all, others are expanding their nuclear programs in the fight against climate change. These states argue that nuclear energy is low in CO2 and allows them to produce cheap electricity and be more energy independent.

But can nuclear power really be the way out of the climate crisis?

EU split over nuclear power

The Hungarian government says it can – and is far from alone. In mid-October, ten EU countries, including Finland, the Czech Republic and Poland, declared in a statement: “To win the climate fight, we need atomic energy.”

France, a long-time enthusiastic proponent of nuclear energy, was in charge of formulating this statement. Paris is currently investing in new types of domestically developed reactors.

Budapest meanwhile plans to expand its Russian nuclear power plant. It’s close to the small town of Paks on the banks of the Danube, less than a two-hour drive south of the Hungarian capital. In addition to the four existing reactors, two more are planned – Paks II.

Good for the environment and consumers?

When DW asked about its nuclear expansion plan, the Hungarian government said it had ecological and economic reasons. The special ministry responsible for the planning, construction and commissioning of Paks II told us: “Without nuclear energy there is no climate protection, no green future and no low ancillary costs.”

Nuclear power is the only technology in Hungary that can reliably generate electricity on an industrial scale and without greenhouse gas emissions, especially given the country’s geographic location. In addition, nuclear energy guaranteed affordable prices and would meet the country’s long-term energy needs.

Here you can see the plant in Paks after a reactor accident in 2003 with a leak of radioactive gas

The question of whether nuclear power really benefits the environment is extremely controversial. It is not just about the catastrophic consequences of possible reactor accidents and the still unanswered questions about the safe storage of nuclear waste. Nuclear energy does not guarantee lower emissions. A study of 123 countries published in 2020 in the journal Nature found that actual emissions in countries with nuclear energy are not significantly lower than in those without.

New reactor block in a seismically active zone

The nuclear power plant in Paks also has an impact on flora and fauna in the area, emphasizes Andras Perger, climate and energy expert from Greenpeace Hungary. Cooling water that is fed into the Danube can significantly increase the temperature of the river, especially when the water level is low and the reactor is running.

“The cooling water is already the most important environmental influence,” says Perger. The water temperature in the zone up to 500 meters (1,640 feet) downstream of the facility is legally permitted to reach a maximum of 30 C (86 F). According to the operator, the river temporarily reached the critical value of 29.8 ° C in August 2018. Unofficial measurements by the think tank Energiaklub even showed temperatures well above the permissible values.

Perger also emphasizes that the new reactors are located in a seismically active zone and is skeptical whether all regulations were taken into account when choosing a location. The Federal Environment Agency in neighboring Austria shares his view. A report was released that summer declaring the Paks II location “unsuitable”.

However, the Hungarian government insists that it has done all the necessary research and that the site was classified as non-seismic in 2017.

How independent is nuclear energy?

The homepage of the state-owned company MVM states that the new reactor blocks are not only safe, they also guarantee Hungary more energy independence. But experts are not convinced that the plants will really improve Hungary’s relatively high import quota – both the technology and the fuel rods come from Russia. A study from 2020 comes to the conclusion that, against this background, nuclear energy can ultimately also be classified as an import, i.e. around three quarters of the country’s energy balance comes from abroad.

Deak says the government has a number of reasons for supporting nuclear power

One of the study’s authors, Dr. Andras Deak says the Hungarian government has several reasons for continuing to rely on Russian nuclear power despite this finding. Basically, it is correct that Hungary, unlike Poland, has no significant natural energy resources. “Historically there were no energy sources in the country,” says Deak, so it made sense to build a Soviet nuclear power plant in the 1970s and 1980s. After the end of the era of real socialism, there was a broad consensus in favor of nuclear energy.

Lack of transparency

However, opposition parties and NGOs sharply criticize the decision to award the contract for the expansion of the plant directly to Russia’s state nuclear power company Rosatom and to finance the project with a Russian loan of more than 10 billion euros. The relatively high interest rate of between 4 and 5% and the depreciation of the Hungarian forint could result in taxpayers ending up paying more than the 12.5 billion euros earmarked for the new reactors

From the government’s point of view, however, the decisive factor was that the reactors that were already operational were built based on the Russian model. Having two different technologies in one location would only lead to problems, Orban justified the expansion plans in parliament. “So it has to be Russian if we want nuclear power,” he said.

The Hungarian government awarded the contract directly to the Russian Rosatom

For Orban’s national-conservative Fidesz party, election promises may also have played a role. Energy policy has long been the focus of the party.

“In 2014, Fidesz focused heavily on reducing household costs, which means that low gas prices had to be secured from the largest importer: Gazprom,” said Deak. Signing a contract with Russian state nuclear power company Rosatom could have been a contributing factor in this, he says

Critics have also criticized the Fidesz government’s decision to make the Rosatom Treaty a national security matter and the passage of a new law allowing documents to be kept under lock and key for 30 years.

Little hope for opponents of nuclear power

In contrast to Germany or Austria, there is no broad-based anti-nuclear movement in Hungary. Several opinion polls indicate that a majority of Hungarians reject the renewed renewal of the operating licenses of the existing reactors and the expansion of the Paks nuclear power plant – especially after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

But it would be difficult to get rid of the Paks II treaty or to abandon nuclear power entirely. Not only are energy prices likely to rise for consumers, the government could also be forced to pay high compensation payments to Russia.

This article has been translated from German