The new Prime Minister of Hungary Paks Peter Magyar has officially questioned the validity of the environmental permit issued for the construction of the new nuclear power plant “Paks-2”, learn FACTS.
The main motive for Budapest's sharp political turn is the unprecedented drought and the critical zeroing of the Danube River, whose waters are vital for cooling nuclear reactors.
During a media briefing, Magyar revealed that even the head of the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority (OAH) has acknowledged the existence of a serious case. In view of the current hydrological realities, the environmental license of the Paks-2 NPP in its part on safe water cooling is already highly debatable (source of information: NAMPA News Agency — nampa.org).
Danube is drying up, energy crisis is knocking at the door
The water shortage case took on dramatic proportions earlier this month, when the existing Paks NPP was forced to stop work for the first time in its 44-year history. Although the government has urgently begun building an improvised stone "peninsula" in the riverbed to artificially raise the level, the long-term risk of future expansion remains enormous. According to the Hungarian cabinet, previous environmental and technical plans did not foresee such extreme climate anomalies at all (source of information: International energy portal Argus Media — argusmedia.com).
The fate of the contract with „Rosatom“ hangs in the balance
The project to build the two new Russian VVER-1200 reactors was an emblematic deal of Viktor Orbán's previous administration, agreed with the Russian state corporation „Rosatom“ in exchange for billions of euros of Russian state funding. The first concrete on the site was poured very recently, in early February 2026.
Now, however, Peter Magyar openly states that the contract is being completely revised. The Prime Minister emphasized that according to the plan, the plant was supposed to be operational in 2024, but instead the state has spent nearly 2.8 billion euros on the site, which to date is mainly „two large concrete pits“. Currently, a large-scale audit - financial, energy and national security. Magyar refuses to rule out the option of completely replacing the general contractor or terminating the project, noting that “absolutely all options are on the table“ (source of information: Politico Europe — politico.eu).
The Russian company “Rosatom“ hastened to announce that work on the project is being accelerated on their part, but at the same time admitted that the new Hungarian government has not yet established direct official contact with them (source of information: Daily News Hungary — dailynewshungary.com).