The Budapest Times
The Paks nuclear power plant – Photo: OAH

LMP calls for cancelling Paks nuclear power station expansion contract

Written by BT/MTI
Opposition LMP has submitted a bill to parliament with the aim of cancelling the contract for expanding Hungary's sole nuclear power station in Paks, the party's group leader said on Thursday.

“Nuclear energy is neither cheap nor safe,” Laszlo Lorant Keresztes said in Pecs, in southern Hungary, on the tenth anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. LMP wants preparatory works for the expansion project to be stopped, he added.

There is a consensus developing among Hungary’s opposition parties that the contract for the Paks project should be cancelled, he said.

The LMP politician insisted that arguments in support of expanding the facility and inviting a Russian contractor without a tender had proven null and void, adding that the project had been delayed by several years due to foot-dragging by the Russian partner.

Also, he said it “turned out to be a lie that electricity would be cheap once the project is completed”. The cost of treating and storing radioactive nuclear waste has not been incorporated into cost estimates, he said. “There is no solution to this anywhere in the world,” he added.

Keresztes said it was “unacceptable” that the government was assessing the possibility of creating a nuclear waste disposal facility near Pecs, in the Mecsek hills.

One thought on “LMP calls for cancelling Paks nuclear power station expansion contract”

  1. Hungary can RE-ENGINEER its nuclear supply chain, to make it a ZERO Cost and Nil Risk option.

    Fuel

    The Fuel rods have to be ENTIRELY imported,No refining or enrichment has to be done in Hungary,of the Ore or the UF6 gas.Hence,there is no risk of Nuclear contamination

    Mining

    Since Fuel rods are imported,there is no question of any uranium mining in Hungary and so,there are no tailing ponds,and no poisoning of acquifiers

    DU

    The spent fuel rods,DU etc.,have ALL TO BE EVACUATED from Hungary,by the TECHNOLOGY supplier,and sequestered in Africa,or in any other nation,in a non-seismic zone,with no chance of acquifier poisoning.So the N-Waste is NOT LODGED IN Hungary.

    Radiated water

    The Radiated water has to be treated by the technology supplier,and released into the sea (after cooling) or reused,on a continuous basis,as a moderator or coolant.This is tried and tested process.

    Chernobyl

    In new N-tech,a Chernobyl is impossible,but a Fukushima is possible (as the weakest link in the Nuclear plant has to fail -for the disaster).So there has to be an alt- recourse,in the technology, to obviate malfunctions on a particular leg (but multiple malfunctions will blow up the reactor). That is the same risk,as in,an Aircraft.The Financial cost of the Chernobyl,can only be covered by Nuclear Insurance,wherein the Insurance company “has recourse”, to the Technology supplier.

    Then we come to the Costs

    The Technology supplier,HAS TO BE responsible for all the Decommissioning Costs – which will be 40 years down the road.By that time,new technologies will arise,for decommissioning – which might make the entire facility REUSABLE – even as a Housing Colony or Disneyland..

    Nuclear Fuel Rods – To the extent that the Uranium Pallets,in the Fuel Rods,is from Down blended HEU – it will be free of cost – except for the FINANCIAL COST of the SWU,to downblend the HEU.Else,there will be a financial cost,of the other Nuclear Fuel Rods.

    Capital Cost – All Nuke tech is supplied on a 40 year soft loan,on a turnkey contract.So the ECONOMIC Cost may be nil,but there is a deferred financial cost.Therefore,if the technology supplier has a equity stake in the project,and gets a royalty from the project,for each kwh of electricity generated – the interest is more than covered,and the technology supplier can create a sinking fund, for the FX risk,at the time of loan repayment.

    In case of a profit to the tech supplier, due to the profit in the JV and the royalty,the residual loan payable at the end of the loan tenor – can be waived by the technology supplier.

    There is NO loss to the technology supplier,as the project is JUST AN opportunity for the tech supplier to RECOUP the ONE TIME COSTS of the technology.So,if the Marginal cost of the project, and the ROCE on the Marginal cost, is paid to the supplier – EVEN AFTER 30 Years, the supplier will be mighty happy.In those 30 years,the technology supplier will sell the tech several times and recoup the R&D costs and the “One time Costs” of the technology development and reactor manufacture.( several times)

    So the ONLY Financial Cost is the Fuel Rods.Since these will also be supplied by the reactor maker – it can be covered in the JV Profit and the Composite Royalty on Power Production.The Uranium mines and refining and enrichment facilities are ALREADY there in Russia.So it is only the Marginal cost of the mined ore,and the cost of SS/ZIrconium Fuel Rods and casings – which is a limited cost – and when the Fuel Rods are returned,by the Hungarians – it is the ONLY the cost of the fuel pallets.This cost is NOMINAL.

    There are several nations in Africa,which can accrue an annual royalty for sequestering DU and Uranium wastes.In any case,Russia has several sites to stock DU and Nuclear waste from LEU and HEU enrichment,Research Reactors,FBRs and Power plants,as also,DU from the Mini reactors in the N-Subs – and so, if the supplier takes over the nuclear waste disposal – there is no risk to Hungary – except a TEMP storage in the N-Plant – until it is evacuated, by the Russian Air Force.dindooohindoo

    The Russians have also been sequestering their DU,in the Arctic.So there is no problem there.

    We are not even talking of the economic gains of N-Power – as it can also serve as Peak Load power, by just removing the Control Rods,and there is no Grid Synchronisation Costs.

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