Construction of the first buildings of at the Paks II NPP project in Hungary began on 20 June, Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom said. As part of the work, more than 80 facilities will be built including administrative buildings, assembly shops and warehouses as preparation for the planned construction of two VVER-1200 nuclear power units at the site, Rosatom said.
The currently operating Paks nuclear plant comprises four Russian-supplied VVER-440 pressurised water reactors, which entered operation between 1982 and 1987.
In 2009, the Hungarian Parliament approved the construction of two new units and an intergovernmental agreement was signed with Russia in early 2014. Rosatom is supplying two new VVER-1200 reactors for Paks II. The project is supported by a Russian state loan of up to €10.0bn ($11.2bn) to finance 80% of the project.
Janosh Shuli, Minister without portfolio, responsible for the expansion of the Paks NPP said Hungary’s climate policy is based on long-term used of nuclear power along with an increase in the share of solar energy. He said that currently one third of Hungary’s electricity is provided by the purchase of electricity produced at coal-fired stations in countries neighbouring Hungary. Therefore, the Paks-II NPP project is of key importance not only in terms of achieving climate protection goals, but also to reduce import dependence.
Istvan Lenkei, General Director of MVM Paks-II company, noted that construction of the preliominary facilities will be carried out in parallel with the preparation of technical documentation of 300,000 pages, “which is necessary to confirm the maximum compliance of new power units with the most stringent international, Hungarian and European safety requirements.”
Photo: Non-nulcear construction started at Paks II in June (Credit: Rosatom)
