Hungary allowed Rosatom to build the Paks-2 nuclear power plant in the country

The Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority issued the Russian state corporation “Rosatom» permission for the construction of two new NPP units in the city of Paks, which will be built using Russian technologies, about this reported on the website of the department. The new power units 5 and 6 will make up the Paks-2 NPP.

“On August 26, 2022, following the review of project documentation with a volume of hundreds of thousands of pages, the Hungarian Nuclear Authority (OAN) issued a permit for the construction of two modern VVER-1200 generation 3+ power units at the site of the Paks-2 NPP (Hungary). The license for the construction of this type of power units was issued for the first time in the territory of the European Union. Thus, the construction of power units No. 5 and No. 6 of the Paks NPP is entering an active phase, ”the message circulated by Rosatom said (available to Vedomosti).

The permit is said to be valid for 10 years. Construction could start as early as this fall, in October. The Hungarian government expects to complete the construction by the end of 2030, which will ensure the stability of Hungary’s energy supply, stressed Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations Peter Szijjarto. Initially, the contract for the construction of two power units was issued in 2014, but the terms were significantly extended due to the proceedings of the European Commission.

In July, Szijjarto met with the head of Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev. Then he said that the countries plan to start construction of two Paks-2 blocks in September. He also confirmed that Moscow is ready to finance this project, which is estimated at 12.5 billion euros. Initially, 80% of the funding was to come from a Russian loan. Last year, the parties signed an agreement to extend the term of the Russian state loan until 2030.

If this project is implemented and two new VVER-1200 nuclear reactors appear in Paks, the plant’s capacity will increase from the current 2,000 megawatts to 4,400 megawatts.

At present, the nuclear power plant in the city of Paks, built according to Soviet technology on the banks of the Danube near Budapest, has four power units with VVER-440 reactors. The station provides 49.6% of production and more than a third of electricity consumption in the country.

The current sanctions against Russia imply the suspension of the construction of power units, since its financing is carried out at the expense of a Russian loan to the Hungarian government. However, Szijjarto assured that anti-Russian sanctions would not affect the project due to its high importance for the country’s energy security.

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