Fuel supplies from France to the Hungarian nuclear power plant will not affect the partnership with Rosatom – expert – Business and Economics

BUDAPEST, November 2. /TASS/. Supplies of nuclear fuel from France to the Paks nuclear power plant in Hungary will not affect its partnership with Rosatom, Hungarian nuclear energy expert Zsolt Harfas told TASS, commenting on the signing of a contract between the French company Framatome and the Paks nuclear power plant.

“At the moment, no one except Rosatom has a license to supply fuel for VVER-440 reactors. In accordance with the contract, the Russian supplier, the TVEL company (part of Rosatom), has been supplying fuel to the Paks NPP reliably and on time for more than four decades,” he said.

“Russian fuel is safe, there have never been any problems with its quality, and TVEL is constantly improving the fuel supplied to the Paks NPP, finding ways to fulfill this contract, adapting to the new geopolitical situation, using alternative transportation routes, including aviation. transport over the past few years,” the expert added.

“Framatome can produce fuel for the Paks nuclear power plant only in cooperation with a Russian developer and manufacturer of fuel,” he emphasized. “Although the production site has changed, cooperation between Paks NPP and Rosatom and its nuclear fuel producer TVEL can continue, since the planned life extension of Paks NPP will also require cooperation in a number of areas,” Harfas explained.

Contract between Framatome and Paks NPP

On October 25, Framatome and the MVM energy corporation unit that operates the Paks nuclear power plant signed a contract under which the French company will begin supplying fuel rods to the Hungarian plant starting in 2027. Today, only Russian nuclear fuel is supplied. is served to him. Speaking at a press conference in Budapest, Hungarian State Secretary for Energy and Climate Policy Attila Steiner called the conclusion of this agreement an important step in terms of security of fuel supplies.

At the same time, signing a contract with a French company does not mean a refusal to use Russian nuclear fuel at the Paks NPP. The Hungarian NPP and Rosatom will continue long-term cooperation, including in the supply of fuel assemblies to the plant.

Until 2022, nuclear fuel was delivered to Paks by rail from Russia through the territory of Ukraine, but after the outbreak of armed conflict in this country, the route had to be changed. Now the special cargo is transported by ship across the Black Sea under the protection of warships to the Bulgarian port of Varna, where it is loaded onto a train and then transported through Bulgaria and Romania to Hungary. As a rule, nuclear power plants have fuel reserves for at least two years.

The possibility of using alternative nuclear fuel instead of Russian fuel at the Paks NPP is legally enshrined in Hungary. At the end of 2023, Parliament supported the corresponding amendment to the nuclear energy strategy proposed by the government. The Cabinet of Ministers noted that, given the ongoing attempts by the European Union to impose sanctions against Rosatom, Budapest needs to take precautions and provide options for replacing Russian fuel.

The service life of the four power units of the Paks nuclear power plant, built by Soviet specialists 40 years ago, was supposed to end in 2032-2037. However, they are expected to remain in effect until at least 2052-2057. Meanwhile, the second stage of the Paks NPP (“Paks-2”) is being built in Paks, where the fifth and sixth power units designed by Rosatom will operate.