The European Commission approved the nuclear fuel supply contract between Hungary and Russia, according to the statement by the Hungarian Prime Minister's office on Monday.
The Hungary-Russia fuel supply contract has been a source of dispute between the European Commission, the Euratom Supply Agency and Hungary as the contract has made Russia the only fuel supplier for the planned two reactors. However, according to the Euratom Supply Agency, EU countries need to diversify theirfuel suppliers to allow for competition in compliance with energy market rules.
The agreement is worth$10.8 billion and each reactor will have a capacity of 1,200 megawatts. According to the latest version of the agreement, Russia will provide nuclear fuel for the first 10 years while the remaining supply thereafter will be diversified with a number of suppliers.
After a process of negotiations, "the Commission informed the Hungarian government on Monday in an official letter that Euratom Supply Agency has signed the contract between the two countries," minister Janos Lazar fromthe Hungarian prime ministrysaid in astatement.
"It is no longer a question of whether maintaining the capacity can be realized; the question now is how it is going to be realized," Lazar said,adding that the project is not delayed andthe construction may begin in 2018.
Lazar drew attention to the fact that one and a half months ago there were reports that the Supply Agency and the European Commission had blocked the Hungarian-Russian nuclear cooperation. He said that this was not the case but the parties were going to closely cooperate in order to resolve the matter.
He pointed out that this has been "a great success for the Hungarian government to have been able to convince the Commission that this agreement is about Europe’s security of energy supply and Hungary’s energy and gas independence, and not about increasing Hungary’s dependence on Russia."
He also explained that Hungary has concluded three agreements with Russia: on the construction of the nuclear power plant; on its operation; and on the supply of nuclear fuel for the facility. The latest approval from the European Commission relates to conditions for just the fuel supply of the nuclear power plant, Lazar stated.
The Hungarian government is still in discussion with the European Commission and there are two more issues to be clarified in terms of competition law and procurement, he underlined, adding that all projects should be carried out in line with EU requirements.
(aaenergyterminal.com)
