Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev and Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs & Trade, Peter Szijjártó held discussions as part of a joint working visit to Turkey. The parties noted the high level of implementation of the Paks II project under construction by Rosatom in Hungary. During the meeting, Russian and Hungarian leaders emphasised the importance of constant dialogue, attesting high interest in the implementation of not only the main participants in the project, but also foreign partners.
Szijjártó noted earlier: “Energy cooperation with Russia serves the benefit of both countries. The early construction of two new nuclear power plant units in Paks will further strengthen Hungary’s energy security and significantly reduce its dependence on any drastic changes in the international energy market.”
Following the talks, the parties agreed to continue implementation of the Paks project, taking into account the current foreign policy situation.
The Paks II project was launched in 2014 by an inter-governmental agreement between Hungary and Russia for two VVER-1200 reactors (units 5&6) to be supplied by Rosatom. The contract was supported by a Russian state loan to finance the majority of the project.
The Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority issued the licence for the units in August 2022. The following December, the Hungarian parliament approved the extension of the life of the four existing VVER-440 power units at the Paks NPP for another 20 years. The current life of the station’s nuclear reactors would have ended in 2032-2037, and now it is assumed that they will work until at least 2052-2057. Paks currently provides half of all generated and one third of the consumed electricity in Hungary.
Currently at the Paks II construction site, the construction of an anti-filtration curtain with a length of 2.7 km has been completed; work is underway to strengthen the soil; builders at the end of July will begin excavating foundation pit; support facilities are being built; and construction of the nuclear units should begin by the end of the year.
At the same time work is progressing in Russia where long-lead components of the nuclear islands are being manufactured. These include the reactor, steam generators. At the end of April 2024, the manufacture of the reactor vessel for the first unit began at the AEM Technologies plant near St Petersburg. To date, about 600 tonnes of metal blanks have been cast in the equivalent of liquid steel, which is about half of the volume needed to create a reactor installation. The process of machining parts has begun. At the end of July the melt localisation device will be delivered to the construction site, the first large-sized delivery to arrive at Paks from Russia.
Szijjártó said that the group of Russian, western European, American and Hungarian companies working on the project raised hope that “at some point, everyone will return to common sense, once we’re over the political and ideological issues and the war psychosis.”
