Hungary wants nuclear fuel from the US, “in addition to existing relations with Russian suppliers.” Announcement by Peter Szijjarto in Washington

Hungarian Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto announced in an interview with state television M1 on Wednesday that his country will begin talks to purchase nuclear fuel from the United States to diversify its supply, Reuters reports.

Szijjarto, who has been in Washington since Tuesday, said Hungary needs more nuclear fuel to cover its growing energy needs as it expands its nuclear power plant. He stated that Hungary will continue to buy nuclear fuel from Russia as well.

“In addition to existing relations with Russian suppliers, we are also starting consultations on the purchase of nuclear fuel from the United States in order to safely serve our increased nuclear capacity,” Szijjarto told M1.

Hungary's foreign minister met with representatives of the US Department of Energy and US nuclear equipment supplier Westinghouse to discuss the issue on Wednesday, according to the reporter who spoke with Szijjarto.

Szijjarto did not provide details on when Hungary might actually buy nuclear fuel from the U.S. or how much of its needs could be covered by U.S. imports.

Hungary's Paks nuclear power plant currently has four small Russian-made VVER 440 reactors with a combined capacity of

Hungary plans to extend the life of the current reactors by 20 years and at the same time expand the plant, where the Russian company Rosatom is building two more VVER reactors with a capacity of 1.2 gigawatts each.

The significantly delayed Paks II expansion project was awarded to Rosatom in 2014 without a tender, a situation often cited as a sign of close ties between Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Last year, the Hungarian government announced that it would also buy nuclear fuel from the French company Framatome starting in 2027.