In the third quarter of 2024, the plant was ranked in the top 30 percent on the list of all the world's nuclear power plants.Continue reading
After the United States froze the funds of the controversial USAID (United States Agency for International Development), many actors in Hungary, usually with anti-government voices, were cut off from funding. Among them were those who attacked the Paks II nuclear project. Magyar Nemzet asked nuclear energy expert Zsolt Hárfás how the politically motivated campaign against the energy project was conducted. The Paks expansion is currently the largest nuclear project in the EU with a construction license.
One of the most recent moves of the new US administration is the cutting back of spending deemed unnecessary by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk. This was necessary after documents came to light that the Biden administration had given grants to several press products that worked against local governments. Magyar Nemzet points out that among these press products were those that repeatedly published articles that portrayed the Paks II project in a bad light.
These publications and the organizations behind them have exploited the fact that it is difficult for the average person to obtain credible information in the field of nuclear energy, where it is not easy to see clearly through the web of interests and counter-interests,”
nuclear energy expert Zsolt Hárfás told the newspaper. According to the owner of Atombiztos.org, it is clear that the sites in question typically claim to be independent.
“The right to determine the energy mix is a sovereign national competence, and Hungary is building a new nuclear power plant in this spirit. However, the project has been attacked for years by Átlátszó.hu, which, according to its official financial report, received the most funding from the US National Endowment for Democracy in 2023, and in previous years. They have also received funding from the US Embassy in Budapest,” Hárfás explained.
In recent years, false information has been published on Szabad Európa (Radio Free Europe), questioning the necessity of the Paks II project and about Rosatom, the technology supplier, at the expense of the American taxpayers. Free Europe has also followed the American narrative that casts doubt on the performance and reliability of the current world leader in the Russian nuclear industry, while sympathizing with the US nuclear industry, which has been at a measurable competitive disadvantage for years, or rather decades, the expert pointed out.
As for misleading readers, Hárfás turned to Greenfo, which has also lost its embassy support, and drew attention to the fact that the site regularly publishes anti-Paks II writings by Bence Tordai, a former co-chair of the Dialogue – The Greens’ Party.
In his latest opinion piece, for example, the politician suggested that the Hungarian authorities have failed to help reduce the temperature of the water cooling the old and new nuclear power plant units before it is returned to the Danube. Hárfás pointed out that the fact is that the river’s wildlife needs to be protected from cooling water that is too hot, therefore, so-called peak cooling plants will be built to ensure that the temperature of the water discharged back into the river remains below the limit. This is no secret and has been the subject of several articles, and as Mr. Hárfás pointed out, the equipment is even included in the visual plan illustrating the offensive opinion piece.
Moreover, the German Grassroots Foundation has supported the blog posts of the Atomcsapda, which claims falsehoods about nuclear energy. And the Paks Riot group, which attacks the Paks II project, was funded by George Soros’ organization, the Open Society, Mr. Hárfás continued. He recalled that the Austrian Federal Ministry of Sustainability and Tourism has for years supported the anti-nuclear activities of the Energiaklub in order to launch various legal proceedings against Paks II. This was included in their financial report for 2019, but since then the NGO has received a subsidy from Austria, apparently still in 2023, he explained.
Via Magyar Nemzet, Featured photo via Facebook/MVM Paksi Atomerőmű Zrt.
