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The European Commission is expected to issue aÌýdecision "within weeks" on Hungary's plan to build two additional reactors at Paks, Attila Aszódi, the government commissioner responsible for Paks II, said last week. The submission of the site licence application for the new Russian-built VVER-1200 unitsÌýto Hungary's regulator is scheduled for the end of October, Aszódi told delegates at the ¶¶Òõpro's 41st Annual Symposium in London on 16 September.

Hungary has signed agreements with the United Arab Emirates covering nuclear energy and other sectors, the country's foreign ministry announced on 2 March. The documents were signed during Hungarian minister of foreign affairs and trade Péter Szijjártó's two-day visit to Dubai and Abu Dhabi this week.

Hungary has agreed to further cooperation with Iran on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, its minister of foreign affairs and trade, Péter Szijjártó, announced last week.ÌýHe said the two countries would "continue and expand" the training of Iranian nuclear experts as well as establish research and scientific cooperation in the use of nuclear energy.

Hungary has so far failed to explain how the Paks nuclear power plant expansion project does not conflict with state aid rules, the European Commission said yesterday. In response, the Hungarian government said the EC's investigation of the matter contains "a number of inaccuracies and misunderstandings" as well as "unfounded and misleading assertions".

The Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority has authorised the introduction of a 15-month fuel replacement interval at units 1-4 of the Paks nuclear power plant, the plant's owner MVM NPP Ltd announced on 8 December. The move licenses the switch to a new type of fuel assembly with an average enrichment of 4.7%.

Rosatom has the strategic aim of attracting European suppliers of nuclear power equipment and services to its foreign and domestic projects, its first deputy director general, Kirill Komarov, said today at a conference in Budapest. Following him at the podium, a Hungarian government official reassured potential suppliers that the Russia-backed Paks nuclear power plant expansion project meets European Commission rules.

The European Commission announced today that it has opened an in-depth state aid investigation into Hungary's plans to provide financing for the construction of two new nuclear power reactors in Paks. The Commission has also launched an infringement procedure against Hungary as regards the Paks II project, because it "has concerns regarding the compatibility of the project" with EU public procurement rules.

Hungary still expects to start construction of its Paks II nuclear power plant though it has yet to receive confirmation from the European Commission that the project meets the bloc's procurement rules. Attila Aszódi, the government commissioner responsible for Paks II, told reporters in Budapest yesterday that a site licence is expected to be issued in 2016, with a construction permit to follow in 2017.

A bilateral cooperation agreement on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy has been signed between the governments of Saudi Arabia and Hungary.

Industry leaders last week debated how to bridge the gap between the ¶¶Òõpro's vision of an extra 1000 GWe of new nuclear power capacity by 2050, and the practicalities of working within current political, regulatory and financial environments.

Hungary has received confirmation from the European Commission that its Paks II nuclear power plant project meets the objectives of the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) Treaty, a government official told World Nuclear News on 11 September. Speaking at the side of the ¶¶Òõpro's Annual Symposium in London, Attila Aszódi said the formal confirmation had been received on 7 September.

Hungary and China have signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate in education and research and development in the nuclear power sector. Hungary's national development minister Miklós Seszták and the head of China's National Energy Administration Nur Bekri signed the agreement in Budapest on 26 May.