The Paks NPP extension is a necessity, as said Prof. Dr. Attila Aszódi, Deputy Rector of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, the Director of the Institute of Nuclear Techniques, in his speech at the Hungarian Inforadio. Last year Hungary had to import 18% of consumed electrical energy. Only the construction of new power unit could help to provide the country with necessary energy and expand its regional export.
After the Paks NPP extension Hungary will be able to export energy to the Balkan Peninsula countries. According to the expert, besides the two power units of the Paks-2 NPP there is a need to build two gas heat and power plants with total capacity of 1000 and 2000 MW. To ensure stable supply of energy, as believes professor Aszódi, it will be necessary to build several pumphouses inside and outside the country. Other countries of Eastern Europe should also extend their NPPs, says the professor. The construction of the Temelin NPP in the Czech Republic and of new power units at the Mokhovtse (Slovakia) will allow these countries to export energy to Germany.
People’s support
Dr. Attila Aszódi noted that the population of Eastern Europe supports the development of nuclear power engineering. Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia and Romania are supporting the atom. Poland is also planning to follow. Speaking about the pro-atomic choice, Prof. Aszódi emphasized that the new technologies today allow people to worry less about the safety. The newest reactor of the new generation, including Russian fast breeder lead bismuth and sodium cooled reactors allow the use of spent fuel for energy production. Thus a conclusion can be driven from the words of Prof. Aszódi, that the cooperation with Russia proves fruitful for Hungary and other countries of Eastern Europe.
Today Rosatom seems the mightiest possible supplier of new power units for the Paks NPP for another competent authority as well – Szentgyörgyi Zsuzsa, an expert of atomic energy from the Hungarian Engineering Academy. In his article dedicated to development of nuclear generation he emphasizes that the Hungarian specialists of atomic industry received and deepened their knowledge but in “Russian (ex-Soviet) school”. Russian specialists constantly collaborate with their Hungarian colleagues. Thus, Russian atomists were the ones to conduct lifting of the TVELs, damaged as a result of the accident at the NPP in 2003, and their safe withdrawal.
According to Zsuzsa, only a Russian supplier could give some good opportunities for Hungarian ones, not only in the field of construction, but also in machine building. He also noted that it had been a while since the Ganz EEG company was operating in Hungary, the company being a Russian majority property and supplying important equipment for NPPs (such as pumps, fuel assembly loading equipment). Let us remind our readers that, according to Pál Kovács, Deputy State Secretary for Energy, Hungary is planning to announce a tender for construction of two power units at the Paks NPP site at the beginning of 2013. The first new unit is to be put into operation in 2025. The Hungarian side picked out five reactor projects to take part in the tender: APR-1400 (South Korea), AP-1000 (USA), EPR (France), ATMEA-1 и AES-2006 (Russia).
