Partizán Podcast

Miért akar több SMR-t Közép- és Kelet-Európában az USA? | 1Jövő

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Az Egyesült Államok támogatja az új atomtechnológia, a kis moduláris reaktorok (SMR) térnyerését Közép- és Kelet-Európában, hogy ellensúlyozza Oroszország és Kína befolyását a régióban. Fehér Zoltán geostratégával, a George Washington Egyetem előadójával és az Atlantic Council…

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Partizán Podcast
Megjelenés
2026. 01. 05.
Hossz
34 perc
Témák
kis moduláris reaktor, atomenergia, geopolitika, energiaügy, usa, oroszország
Átirat
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The United States has withdrawn from a lot of its leadership roles in the world in the past decade and a half. [music] And wherever the United States has left, China and Russia have moved in. [music] Small reactor.

Thank you very much for accepting the invite to participate on this podcast.

Uh I'm happy to be with you and I'm a follower uh of the podcast which I think is a really important um part of the landscape in Hungary.

So great. >> Thank you very much.

So let me let me introduce you.

Zan Fer is a is a diplomat scholar and geo strate strategist with more than 20 years of experience working in government academia and also in the the private sector.

He's currently a non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council's global China hub.

A professional lecturer at George University.

George Washington University and the geopolitical consultant for leading international corporations in in the financial energy and also technology sectors.

Uh he currently leads the Atlantic Council's research projects the geopolitics of European policies on China and their implications for US strategy and transatlantic unity.

Previously he served as a professional diplomat for Hungary for 12 years working as a foreign policy analyst at the Hungarian embassy in Washington DC and as Hungary's deputy ambass ambassador and acting ambassador in Turkey.

He [snorts] has taught international relations at the Harvard Kennedy School, MIT and Tus University.

He earned his PhD in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tus University.

He has researched the US EU and China relations, transatlantic cooperation, central eastern European politics and the geopolitical implications of energy security.

So after after this this introduction about you and the and the topic, uh let's let's dive dive into how do you see SMR small reactors in general and and why do you think they matter? >> SMRs have the potential of changing geopolitics, changing the um climate landscape.

They're looked at right now as kind of a magic pill.

We don't know if that's going to be true or not, but they have a lot of potential.

They have some misconceptions about them.

One of them is that there are they are a technology that small module reactors are a technology.

They're actually not a single technology.

There are over 100 different designs for SMRs.

They are smaller upfront projects.

They are produced in a factory setting and so there's um a repeatability of their production and there's also flexibility of use and um the geopolitical powers are competing in this area because SMRs could be the energy source of the future but again they're more promise than result right now. um they're they're not the magic pill or we're not sure they're the magic pill.

They're also part of the nuclear renaissance that we're seeing.

Um there's a recent shift back to nuclear and the traditional nuclear reactors, they're very large and they take a long time uh to build.

Um they have to build be built on site.

Whereas small module reactors, the name says it all.

Um because they're built from modules, they can be factory produced and then deployed on site.

So their production is much more flexible and um their production is also faster.

Not fast enough right now, but you know, their construction um takes a much shorter time than traditional reactors.

Those are some of the things that we need to know about SMRs right now, and those are the things that make them attractive. >> Yeah.

And this is the before it's not a technology.

It's um it's more of a um a notion.

It's not just really about energy but also about the international partnerships.

And the US is very actively promoting SMR technologies in in Europe often in countries which have very strong ties to to Russia in all sorts of energy matters and and uh and the nuclear uh in particular.

So in light of this uh how do you view uh the November 7th uh Hungarian government visit in in in Washington and the letter of interest or the moment of understanding what they agreed on for approximately 10 10 units to be shipped in the in the future.

So what do you make of this? >> Well, I've evaluated the this portion of the Washington visit by Prime Minister Orurban and his delegation uh to meet with President Trump and his cabinet uh in a very positive light.

Uh not everything in the visit is positive in terms of energy diversification and in terms of ser serving the Hungarian national interest, but this is definitely one of the positive ones.

Um it's it's a positive step towards a more diversified energy future for Hungary.

Um this has the promise of um helping us uh leave our uh fixation on Russian energy uh which has been very very detrimental to the Hungarian economy and the Hungarian national interest and Hungary's international standing.

Currently we Hungarians uh get about 80 85% of our energy from Russian sources.

So that diversification is absolutely necessary and the Orban government has taken very very few steps until November 7th to start that diversification process.

But November 7th brought a few good positive steps towards diversification away from Russia and China.

And one of the key steps among those um was uh theou about Hungary buying Americanmade small module reactors um up to 10 such reactors in the amount of up to 10 billion.

That's that's a big big contract in the framework of that uh visit.

And so we don't know yet how many of those reactors will actually be bought.

And SMRs are an emerging technology.

So we don't know the timeline either.

But this is definitely a great step towards diversification because as we know we're very much entrenched with Russia in the nuclear sphere too.

You know, the Soviet Union built our first um nuclear power plant in Pak Bakshwan um with Russian Soviet technology and we have contracted Russian companies to build um Pox 2, which is our second nuclear power plant uh next to the first one uh in the south of Hungary in Pox.

And there has been a lot of push back.

There have been uh controversies around uh Paktu.

The European Union was not thrilled that we only made deals with Russia for the construction of our power plant which you know it obviously is a country that the EU has tried to push out um from its nuclear infrastructure.

We're currently buying Russian fuel uh for uh Bakwan and we're also buying some French fuel which also originates in Russia.

So we're almost entirely tied to Russia for our energy needs.

We source 85% of our energy from Russia and our entire nuclear industry is tied to Russia and and that's not good for Hungarian energy.

It's not good for the Hungarian national interest.

It's not good for our standing in the EU and NATO.

And so, um, I'm glad that the Orban government, uh, made this deal, uh, with the Trump administration, um, because this definitely is a good sign of Hungary moving away from that fixation on Russia.

But again, the devil will be in the details. >> Yes, exactly.

And what does this agreement entail?

Is it So, it's legally non-binding, that's for sure.

I mean uh uh how do you view this and and how strong this agreement is because the the sum what is what is put on the price tag is is uh is quite big this 10 to 20 billion US but how do you think this will pan out in the future?

Well, I think one thing to consider is that the Trump administration uh still has over three years in office.

So this is not one of those memoranda of understanding where you know one country you know can say well we'll sign this but this government will be gone in a few months so you know we don't have to keep within the terms of the MOU.

In this case, the Orban government has established this strong alliance with the Trump administration and I believe that they intend to keep the terms of thisou.

Again, SMRs are not a magic pill because they are an emerging technology.

There are actually very very few SMRs that are already operating.

Most of the existing projects are just being built in China.

And so that makes the whole reliance partial reliance on SMRs for our diversification very uncertain.

But I'm I'm fairly sure that the Orban government uh intends to go ahead with this.

It will depend on a lot of other factors.

Uh obviously how the US technology for SMRs is developing.

One thing to keep in mind is the US is not a leader in SMRs.

It wants to be a leader and could be a leader, but Russia and China are leaders in SMRs and in production in the production of its fuel.

So that makes theou a little bit uncertain, the future of theou a little bit uncertain.

But if everything pans out, Hungary could commission uh the building of a few SMRs.

And again, that's an important step for us uh to move away from um from Russian nuclear energy and because these reactors would be built by uh US companies and hopefully they would uh use American fuel, the special fuel that they use called Halu.

And um I think keeping within the terms of the agreements that the Orban government made with the Trump administration will be key for the continuation of their alliance in the future.

So I think SMRs and obviously uh the other contract with Westinghouse for uh fuel rods for our first nuclear power plant and also the LG diversification uh buying LG from uh US companies.

All of those are part of the package that the urban government negotiated which I believe is not enough for the needs of the Hungar Hungarian energy sector.

I think we need to diversify much faster and much broader but I think these are u positive steps that you know a future government a different government potentially next year taking office could broaden and uh advance.

I also believe that even though the Orban government's overall grand strategy has really tied itself to advancing Russian and Chinese interest instead of advancing Hungarian national interest, these agreements that they reached in Washington a couple of weeks ago are a small half step, but an important small half step towards diversifying that overall grand strategy, not just our energy policy.

We're too tied to Russia and China in our grand strategy and foreign policy as well as in our energy policy.

Uh which is part of our grand strategy.

So when I talk about grand strategy that really encompasses all of the different public policies that are about Hungary standing, Hungary's economy, Hungary's international place.

So energy policy, foreign policy, foreign economic policy.

And so I see a lot of these agreements of November 7th as a small half step towards shifting Hungarian grand strategy a little bit towards a less Russia and China oriented direction and a little bit more towards a transatlanticist direction.

Again, a very little shift, a very small shift both in energy and overall grand strategy.

But I think there are signs that the Orurban government understands that their reliance on China and Russia in their grand strategy and their energy policy has not worked out the way they wanted it to work out.

In fact, I think they've been a failure.

They're not diversifying fast enough and broadly enough, but you know allowing and inviting us commercial actors into our energy sector is a welcome development.

And SMRs like LG are also a diversification in another sense.

Uh they're a diversification in the energy technology sense, the energy source sense, right?

We don't import enough LNG. we rely on um pipe based oil and gas.

So LG is is another way of diversifying the Hung Hungarian energy mix.

Small nuclear reactors, small module reactors, SMRs are another way of diversifying the Hungarian energy mix.

And so I think if these agreements materialize, we are diversifying our energy mix and we also are changing our our foreign policy as well in a small way but at least in a positive direction.

Yeah, I think the the benefit for for Hungary is abundantly clear.

So why why is the US promoting SMR deployment across central Eastern Europe?

How can this be analyzed and understood as a geostrategic or geopolitical tool?

The US does look at promoting SMRs as a geopolitical tool, a foreign policy tool, but we have to be very clear that the US needs to step up its efforts in the field of SMRs because Russia and China are right now first movers in this area.

And I um would reference a terrific article by my colleague Lami Kim on SMRs in Washington quarterly uh just a couple of weeks ago.

It's called small module reactor is the coming wave of nuclear energy competition and the essence of the competition is all three great powers or major powers.

I think um the US and China are great powers and Russia is not a great power but acts as a great power.

They're a partial great power.

So all three major powers the US, China and and Russia actually are aware that SMRs could be the future and they are competing in this area. that they want to dominate this area.

And currently the US sees great opportunity in SMRs both in in an energy sense, in a climate sense, and also a geopolitical sense.

But the US is behind China and Russia.

Russia has a near monopoly in producing the fuel for SMRs.

That stands for high assay, lowenrichment uranium.

It's a special fuel that needs special production capability and Russia currently has a near monopoly in producing Halo.

The only other country that produces Halo in a noticeable scale is China.

And so the US is right now falling behind, but they also understand the potential advantages of establishing American dominance in this area.

And as you mentioned, central and eastern Europe is a major target for US efforts.

There are several reasons why they have this ambition of promoting SMRs, American SMRs in Central and Eastern European countries.

Említett entitások

Témák

Személyek

  • Fehér Zoltán

Szervezetek, cégek

  • Atlantic Council
  • George Washington University

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Miről szól ez az epizód: „Miért akar több SMR-t Közép- és Kelet-Európában az USA? | 1Jövő”?

Az Egyesült Államok támogatja az új atomtechnológia, a kis moduláris reaktorok (SMR) térnyerését Közép- és Kelet-Európában, hogy ellensúlyozza Oroszország és Kína befolyását a régióban. Fehér Zoltán geostratégával, a George Washington Egyetem előadójával és az Atlantic Council… Az epizód a Partizán Podcast című magyar podcast egyik adása, megjelenés: 2026. 01. 05..

Milyen témákat érint ez az epizód: „Miért akar több SMR-t Közép- és Kelet-Európában az USA? | 1Jövő”?

Fő témái: kis moduláris reaktor, atomenergia, geopolitika, energiaügy, usa, oroszország.

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Megjelenés: 2026. 01. 05.. Hossz: 34 perc. Az epizód a Podiverzumon hallgatható meg: https://podiverzum.hu/podcast/partizan-podcast/miert-akar-tobb-smr-t-kozep-es-kelet-europaban-az-usa-1jovo-d269e5b7

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