7 Sep 2022 10:09

Rosatom to start building Paks-2 nuclear plant in Hungary in fall 2023

VLADIVOSTOK. Sept 7 (Interfax) - Rosatom plans to start pouring the first concrete at the Paks-2 nuclear power plant in Hungary in the fall of 2023, the Russian state nuclear corporation's CEO, Alexei Likhachev told reporters on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum.

"We plan to discuss everything. Primarily construction, arrival at the first concrete in the fall of next year," Likhachev said, commenting on a possible meeting with Hungarian colleagues at the next session of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

He also said Rosatom would endeavor to localize technologies in Hungary as much as possible.

"The more competencies that are implemented by Hungarian companies, the more effective the project will be," Likhachev said.

Hungary's Atomic Energy Authority granted Rosatom a ten-year permit to build the fifth and sixth generating units of the Paks NPP at the end of August.

The Soviet-designed Paks NPP, which is currently Hungary's sole operating NPP, has four power units with VVER-440 reactors with total capacity of about 2 GW. The Hungarian parliament in 2009 approved the construction of two new power units at the NPP, though the lengthy proceedings of the European Commission have affected the construction timeframe.

The cost of the project is about 12.5 billion euros; Rosatom signed contracts for the completion of the nuclear power plant in December 2014. In March of the same year, Russia and Hungary signed an agreement on a long-term loan of up to 10 billion euros.

Janos Suli, a Hungarian minister without a portfolio in charge of the project, said in April that international equipment suppliers had assured Hungary that they would continue working with the nuclear power plant project.