Hungary’s Power Dilemma

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 15 December 2022

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Paks, a small Hungarian town on the bank of the River Danube has prospered from its nuclear power station, built by the Soviet Union in the mid-1980s. Hungary has prospered too. Paks provides some 40 per cent of the country’s power requirements. But the four reactors are now approaching the end of their lives and are slated for retirement in 2032; so, in 2014 agreement was reached with Russia to build two more, with the help of a Russian loan worth several billion Euros, Russian engineers, and a small army of Ukrainian welders. But the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army in February 2022 has thrown these plans into disarray. Construction has begun, in the sense that bulldozers have been clearing the ground. But the project is already delayed, and there are those who believe that the new reactors will never be built. As Nick Thorpe discovers, people who thought they had a job for life in Paks are worried about their future and the future of a town whose lively shops and restaurants owe everything to the nuclear industry. Now the centre-piece of prime minister Viktor Orban’s energy empire, Paks may soon become the country’s rustbelt.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Can I ask you a name and why you are here today?
0:07.0	Yes, my name is Anita and I'm here because my friends invited me to participate on this nice race.
0:14.0	So that's why I'm here. It just brings people together and it's a great, great fun and having a sport event in a town is always good for the town.
0:25.0	Welcome to Pocksh, a small town in Hungary on the river Danube. I'm Nick Thorpe and this is assignment on the BBC World Service.
0:37.0	Today in Pocksh everyone's got their running shoes on.
0:44.0	My name is Sofia Bociort and we are here because my daughter will run at a running competition.
0:54.0	The marathon was organised by the nuclear power station to you or your husband work in the power station.
1:00.0	Yes, all of my family work at the nuclear power plant.
1:06.0	There's a group of men in early middle age perhaps warming up for their run. One stands out, a tall man maybe not the most athletic, with close cropped hair and a shy smile.
1:18.0	He looks like the gentle giant of the group. He tells me his name is Janos.
1:24.0	I'm the owner of this area. We are the Pocksh, we are the owner of the reactor and the two-story caravan of the town.
1:32.0	Janos is saying we, my colleagues here, we work at the nuclear power station. We thought it would be fun to take part in this and we're taking part in the relay.
1:42.0	We are the owners of this area. We are about to take part in this.
1:48.0	We are about 2-3 km from here.
1:51.0	He is the last in the group and he will be running 2-5 km.
1:55.0	Bringing up the rear end he said.
1:58.0	So good luck with the race Janos. You and all your colleagues.
2:02.0	Thank you.
2:04.0	There's also a local celebrity among the athletes on Tal Kovac, wearing a fluorescent orange jacket.
2:11.0	He won an Olympic gold fahungry at judo in 1992.
2:16.0	As spokesman for the company that runs the nuclear power station here, he's the sort of master of ceremonies at today's event.
2:24.0	It is important for the nuclear power plant because we wanted to show that it's more than the nuclear power plant.
	...

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