First concrete at Paks-2 NPP in Hungary may be poured in 2024, intensive preparations underway - Rosatom

MOSCOW. Feb 26 (Interfax) - The first concrete at the Paks-2 nuclear power plant (NPP) construction site in Hungary may be poured in 2024, Vitaly Polyanin, the Paks-2 project director and vice president of Atomstroiexport (ASE), the Russian state atomic energy corporation Rosatom's engineering division, said in a statement.

"Intensive preparations are currently underway for pouring the first concrete, which may take place in 2024. ASE's branch in Hungary will do its utmost to involve and engage all local companies interested in the project as much as possible," ASE quoted Polyanin as saying.

"We welcome cooperation with local companies in all countries where we are present, and we are currently encouraging primarily Hungarian subcontractors and suppliers to continue to be part of the Paks-2 project," ASE Vice President for International Development Alexander Merten said.

Previously, Rosatom said the first concrete could be poured at the Paks-2 NPP in late 2024 or in early 2025.

ASE started work on the main stage of constructing the Paks-2 NPP in Hungary in late August 2023.

In August 2022, Hungary's Atomic Energy Authority granted Rosatom a permit to build the fifth and sixth generating units of the nuclear power plant. In May 2023, the European Commission approved amendments to the agreement on constructing and financing the project.