U.S. NUCLEAR FOR HUNGARY

N - February 23, 2026 - Hungary and the US signed a civil nuclear energy cooperation during a visit to Budapest by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said the agreement, together with a sanctions-related exemption granted by the US administration, would strengthen Hungary’s energy security and support its ability to provide competitively priced energy for households and industry.

The new deal will “deliver decades of cooperation in nuclear energy” between Washington and Budapest, and it underscored the U.S. commitment “to making Hungary a hub for regional small modular reactor (SMR) development, and encouraged Hungary to select U.S. SMR technology,” the US State Department said in a statement, calling it part of wider efforts to advance “our mutual security interests in the region”. Under the agreement, Hungary will purchase nuclear fuel from US suppliers for the first time, and US firm Holtec International will help Hungary manage its used nuclear fuel.

The agreement was signed by Secretary Rubio and Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó to promote cooperation in Hungary’s civilian nuclear energy programme. Szijjártó said expanding Hungary’s nuclear capacity is a vital national interest, he said, as it is the only way to ensure secure, environmentally sustainable, affordable, and stable electricity supply amid growing demand.

“We have now entered into an alliance with the Americans in the field of nuclear energy,” the Minister said, noting that new and previously unknown technologies are being developed in the United States, and the agreement will allow Hungary to benefit from these advancements as quickly as possible.

Rubio said the nuclear agreement followed discussions held during a November 2025 meeting between US President Donald Trump and Orban at the White House. He also confirmed that Washington had suspended certain sanctions measures affecting Hungary, allowing further progress in bilateral energy cooperation.

In November, the two countries’ governments signed an MOU on nuclear energy which the US State Department said, “signals our intent to start negotiations to facilitate cooperation across the civil nuclear industry, including small modular reactors (SMRs) and spent fuel storage”.

However, Hungary’s main nuclear power programme is rooted in Russian technology. Earlier in February, first concrete was poured for unit 1 of Hungary’s Paks II expansion project (also known a Paks unit 5). The Paks II project was launched in 2014 by an inter-governmental agreement between Hungary and Russia for two VVER-1200 reactors (units 5&6) to be supplied by Rosatom. The contract was supported by a Russian state loan to finance the majority of the project. Following the November summit between Orban and Trump the US granted a complete and indefinite exemption from sanctions for the Paks II project.

The existing Paks NPP comprises four VVER-440 power units launched between 1982 and 1987. Paks currently provides half of all generated and one third of the consumed electricity in Hungary. The Paks NPP is currently fuelled entirely with fuel from Russia’s TVEL, although fuel diversification is planned.

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