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The event focused on the commercial potential of small modular reactors, their role in energy security, and their contribution to decarbonization across CEE.
The March 31 event highlighted Hungary’s growing role in small nuclear reactors, the next wave of nuclear energy development in the region, and came at a decisive moment for nuclear energy in Hungary. The country recently signed an intergovernmental nuclear energy agreement with the United States, laying the foundations for cooperation in civilian nuclear energy development. The European Commission has also now adopted its SMR Strategy.
Together, these developments are helping position Hungary as a regional center for the deployment of advanced nuclear technologies.
In her opening remarks, Caroline Savage, Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Budapest, underlined the importance of U.S.-Hungarian cooperation and the role of American nuclear technology in strengthening energy security in the region.
“The United States sees Hungary as a key partner in the region in the field of nuclear energy, and the country has been selected for the Phase 1 Front-end Engineering and Design study to prepare for the deployment of small modular reactors,” she said.
“Dialogues like the one today are essential. While the ‘atomic age’ of the 20th century was about scale and state power, this ‘modular age’ of the 21st century is about flexibility, resilience, and partnership,” she noted
Together, the United States and Hungary, and our allies in Central and Eastern Europe, are not only planning reactors; our partnership is laying the foundation for energy independence and shared growth over many decades to come.”
The global energy environment and the role of nuclear power in long-term energy security and system stability were addressed by Attila Aszódi, a nuclear safety expert and the dean of the natural sciences faculty at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics.
“The key question today is how to ensure security of supply and how to manage fluctuating electricity prices. A new situation has emerged in which new technologies are both welcome and necessary, and small modular reactors will play an important role,” he said.
Last year, SGE, the Warsaw-based European SMR development platform, signed a memorandum of understanding with Hunatom (a state-owned company focused on developing and coordinating projects in the nuclear energy sector), creating a framework to examine the possible deployment of BWRX-300 SMR technology in Hungary.
Robert Rudich, SMR’s chief business development director, said Hungary “has the experience and capability” to take on a leading role in the region.
“Hungary […] combines comprehensive nuclear expertise with a strategic mindset that recognizes the role of new nuclear technologies in meeting growing energy demand, supporting industrial development, and securing long-term economic growth,” Rudich said.
“Together with GE Vernova Hitachi and our Hunatom partners, we believe the BWRX-300 offers Hungary a fast path to building new nuclear capacity. The early, cost-efficient deployment of this first-of-its-kind technology supports industrial expansion, creates new investment opportunities, and keeps pace with rising energy demand,” he added.
Deputy State Secretary for Energy Policy Márk Alföldy-Boruss discussed Hungary’s energy strategy and the role SMRs could play in meeting national climate and energy policy targets.
“Nuclear energy will be a key pillar of the energy strategy. Parliament has amended Hungary’s atomic energy law, which creates the possibility of deploying small modular reactors. Small modular reactors are promising in terms of fast and cost-efficient implementation. We are pursuing fruitful international cooperation with every supplier country involved,” he said.
The regulatory perspective, including licensing frameworks and the safe introduction of new nuclear technologies, was outlined by Andrea Kádár, president of the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority.
“The [atomic energy law] amendment has made it possible for us to take the necessary steps toward licensing, and now the next phase will be the development of safety regulations, which will define the specific requirements. Small modular reactors represent a kind of leap in nuclear technology. Conventional nuclear power plants face a number of challenges, and SMRs may provide answers to these challenges,” she said.
Róbert Griljov, a member of Hunatom’s supervisory board, spoke about nuclear project development and the company’s role in advancing Hungary’s nuclear ambitions.
“Without nuclear energy, we have no chance of achieving the climate goals set by the EU. Hunatom has sufficient experience in project preparation and implementation to transfer this to SMR projects. This experience is an additional advantage and can accelerate the deployment of the technology,” he said.
Speakers at the forum agreed that small modular reactors could play a key role in meeting rising electricity demand while strengthening energy independence and supporting the region’s climate targets. By the close of the event, participants had also committed to continuing dialogue and cooperation so that these strategic ambitions can be turned into concrete projects over the coming years.
That broader regional context is central to SGE’s role in the discussion. Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Warsaw, the company is a co-investor in the standard design of the BWRX-300, the SMR technology developed by GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy. The platform has positioned itself around what it describes as a combination of proven technology and a new business model, and says that approach has allowed it to become Europe’s leading SMR project developer.
SGE is currently building partnerships and projects in more than half a dozen European countries. Its main focus is on Poland, where it has begun development at three sites with the global energy company Orlen. According to the company, the first unit is scheduled for delivery by 2032.
For Hungary, the importance of that partnership lies not only in access to a specific technology, but in the possibility of joining a broader European development track that is already moving from planning into implementation. The message of the Budapest forum was clear enough: SMRs are no longer being discussed only as a distant technology option, but as a realistic part of future energy planning in Hungary and in the wider region.
This article was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of April 10, 2026.
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