Siemens Energy has applied to the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control for the export licenses required to fulfill its "obligations in the Paks II project".Continue reading
Siemens Energy is relocating its nuclear control technology division related to the Paks expansion (Paks II) to Hungary, which is “a favorable solution for our country,” and thus the construction of the new nuclear power plant units can be realized in accordance with the original plans, announced Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, on Tuesday in Budapest.
The politician reported that the tender for the preparation of the control technology for Paks II was won by a consortium of France’s Framatome and Germany’s Siemens, but since this is dual-use technology, the licenses of the countries concerned are also required for foreign application, which the Paris leadership has granted, but the Green Party members of the previous Berlin government have not.
As a bridging solution, a decision favorable to Hungary was made to have Siemens locate its nuclear control technology division related to Paks II in Budapest. This process is already underway,”
he said.
Péter Szijjártó explained that this is beneficial for Hungary because it will create significant high-tech industrial capacity in the country, and the Hungarian authorities will authorize its use. “The competent Hungarian authorities have granted this authorization, meaning that the problem arising from the lack of the previous German authorization has been remedied,” he emphasized.
“Thus, the creation of the ‘nervous system’ of Paks II, that is, the control technology of Paks II, has become possible through the cooperation of Framatome and Siemens, as originally intended, meaning that it can be implemented according to the original plans,” he continued.
This is also good because many nuclear power plants around the world operate with Russian primary circuits and Western European control technology, hence today we have taken another important step towards Hungary’s energy sovereignty and the success of the Paks II investment,”
he said.
L-R: Árpád Goszták, Managing Director of Siemens Energy Kft., Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, Gergely Jákli, Chairman and CEO of Paks II Zrt. Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
“We would like to thank the managing director of Siemens Energy in Hungary and the employees and engineers of Siemens Energy in Hungary for their excellent work, which has made it possible for the control technology of the Paks nuclear power plant to be partly made in Hungary,” he added. The Minister pointed out that Europe and the world are currently facing a continuous energy crisis, and that countries without coastlines or significant oil or natural gas fields are in a particularly delicate situation in this regard. “Such landlocked countries are dependent on the goodwill of their neighbors, which is not always a given. We know this very well in the case of Hungary, as Ukraine has recently made a number of decisions that have jeopardized or at least complicated the security of Hungary’s energy supply,” he said. He therefore considered it an important task for Hungary to produce as much of the energy it consumes as possible itself, which, in his words, is currently only possible with nuclear power plants.
Via MTI, Featured image: MTI/Jánossy Gergely
