On 23-24 June, the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade (IFAT) organised a conference on nuclear energy in cooperation with the French Institute in Budapest. The symposium, one of the closing events of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union, featured a panel of eminent French and Hungarian experts. The conference was also available online on Zoom.
The opening speech was delivered by Pascale Andreani, French Ambassador to Hungary, who underlined that thinking about nuclear energy is particularly important because it can play a decisive role in French-Hungarian relations, as there is a strong consensus between the two countries on this issue. The keynote speaker, Pál Kovács, State Secretary for Capacity Maintenance of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant, underlined in his presentation that nuclear energy is an inevitable source of energy for a number of reasons. The United States and France have the largest number of operating reactors in the world. He indicated that nuclear energy represents approximately 26% of the energy mix in the European Union (67% of electricity production in France and 51% in Hungary). At the same time, the keynote speaker underlined that nuclear energy is gaining ground worldwide due to its low carbon footprint. Most of the reactors are being built in Asia, with China, Korea and India in particular making significant steps to increase their power generation capacity. Pál Kovács also stressed the importance of developing the technology and gave a detailed account of the situation and plans in Hungary. He pointed out that renewable energies cannot provide energy as steadily as would be needed, which is why nuclear energy is very important to ensure stability.
Florent Parmentier, political scientist and international relations expert at the Institut d’études politiques de Paris (SciencesPo), and Secretary General of the French research centre CEVIPOF, focused his presentation on geopolitical issues, with particular reference to the consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis. In his conclusion, he underlined that there is also a great need for nuclear energy for further alternative energy sources, e.g. for the production of hydrogen. Tamás Baranyi, Deputy Director for Strategy at our institute, also spoke about geopolitical issues, underlining the unforeseeable consequences of the European sanctions policy. Olivér Hortay, a researcher at the Századvég Foundation, spoke about the growing confidence in nuclear energy in Europe, demonstrating with concrete statistics the impact of the energy crisis caused by the Russian-Ukrainian war. The presentations were followed by questions from the audience, including a small debate on the storage of renewable energy, such as solar panels and wind turbines, and the future of nuclear energy.
On the second day of the conference, the nuclear sector and the professions were discussed. Among other things, Hervé Maillart, the permanent representative of the French nuclear industry at the CNI (National Industry Council), pointed out the high shortage of specialists and the fact that the nuclear energy sector offers a very wide range of services: welding, electricity, civil engineering, safety, design, operation, radiation protection, etc. Today, it provides jobs for 780 000 people in Europe (240 000 direct jobs and 540 000 spin-off jobs). In France, 220 000 people are employed in this sector. Moreover, now that President Macron has announced the construction of 6 new reactors, the demand for labour is increasing (30 000 new employees are expected over the next 15 years). And in Hungary, the construction of the 2 new Paks reactors will require a skilled workforce trained in the nuclear trades of tomorrow.
The conference concluded that it would be important to organise a similar conference in the future, involving experts from France and possibly the V4 countries, to allow a broader reflection on nuclear energy, which will remain a key factor in Europe’s and the world’s energy supply whatever happens.