Hungary will have to build at least one modular reactor (small modular reactor – SMR) to be added to the conventional reactors to be built at the Paks NPP, and cannot rule out the possibility of purchasing it from Russia, he said on Monday. Minister of Energy of Hungary Czab Lantos, quoted by Reuters and Agerpres.

Expansion of the Paks nuclear power plant in Hungary with the help of RussiaPhoto: ATTILA KISBENEDEK / AFP / Profimedia

“Hungary can purchase no earlier than the SMR type reactor in 2029-2030,” said Csaba Lantos in an interview for the online publication Vilaggazdasag.hu. “I don’t think it will be in Paksya, but rather in a part of the country where energy demand is growing,” the Hungarian official said, adding that the SMR would most likely be installed in eastern Hungary, but other locations were being analyzed.

The SMR can generate up to 300 megawatts of electricity. “Because they are smaller, they can be installed near rivers with low flows, or they can be built with a cooling tower,” said Hungary’s energy minister.

He did not rule out that Hungary will buy a modular reactor from Russia, noting that “we have to consider all options.”

In 2014, Hungary signed a €12.5 billion deal with Russia’s Rosatom group to build two new units, each with a capacity of 1.2 GW, at the Paks NPP, which already has four reactors.

Romania signed an agreement with the US on the construction of SMR reactors

However, the construction project of the new units has suffered significant delays. On Monday, Chaba Lantos said he would like to see the life of all four units at the Paksha plant extended for another 20 years, adding that the issue is more technical than political.

These four existing units will reach the end of their life cycle between 2032 and 2037. After the construction of two new units, the capacity of the Paksh plant will be 4,400 megawatts.

In Romania, at the beginning of the year, the Americans from NuScale Power and the Romanian company RoPower Nuclear (RoPower), owned in equal shares by Nuclearelectrica and Nova Power & Gas, announced the signing of a contract for Front-End Engineering and Design Works (FEED), which marks an important a step towards the implementation of NuScale VOYGR power plant with small modular reactors (SMR) in Romania.

The contract was initialed on December 28, 2022, and the FEED work to be initiated by NuScale will define the basic and site-specific specifications for the VOYGR-6 SMR plant. The first cooperation agreement was signed in November 2021.