The main construction phase of the Paks II nuclear power plant in Hungary has started

The main construction phase of the Paks II nuclear power plant, which is set to become the largest nuclear construction project and the largest Russian project in Europe, was inaugurated in Paks, Hungary. The opening was symbolised by the first pouring of concrete into the foundations of the new power complex.

The ceremony was attended by the Director General of the Russian State Nuclear Corporation Rosatom Alexey Likhachev, Hungarian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó, Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vitalij Poljanin, Vice President of Atomstrojexport and Director of the Paks II project, Yevgeny Stanislavov, Russian Ambassador to Hungary, and representatives of Hungarian energy companies. Hungarian and Russian journalists also attended the event.

According to Lichačov, this is a historic day for the world's nuclear power industry. He stressed that the project is being developed under the patronage of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, which, he said, guarantees its successful implementation.

In accordance with IAEA standards, once the first concrete is poured, the facility is officially designated as a „nuclear power plant under construction“, marking the transition from preparatory work to the main construction phase. The general contractor for the project is Atomstroyexport, a Rosatom company.

Concrete is now being poured for the foundations of the plant's fifth unit, one of the two new Paks II units. These will be equipped with VVER-1200 Generation III+ reactors, which are being built for the first time in the European Union and have a guaranteed lifetime of 60 years.

The current Paks plant, built according to a Soviet design from the 1980s, operates four units with VVER-440 reactors. The casting of concrete for the new unit is scheduled to continue until the end of 2026. The foundation slab for unit 5 will require approximately 9,000 tonnes of reinforcing steel and 43,000 cubic metres of concrete. Once the foundation is complete, construction of the reactor building's inner and outer containment, floor construction and installation of process equipment will begin.

Preparatory work included, among other things, the excavation of a 23-metre deep construction pit for Unit 5. At the bottom of the pit, a concrete base was created on which the reinforcement for the foundation slab was placed. The construction of the foundation structure and the first concrete pouring were carried out by the Russian company TITAN-2 with the participation of the Hungarian company Bayer Construct Zrt.

The Paks nuclear power plant, which uses Russian nuclear fuel, currently generates approximately 45 % of electricity produced in Hungary and covers 36 % of domestic consumption. New units 5 and 6 are scheduled to be connected to the electricity grid in the early 2030s. Once they are operational, the power output of the nuclear complex on the Danube, about 100 kilometres south of Budapest, will increase from the current 2 000 megawatts to 4 400 megawatts. The share of nuclear power in Hungary's energy mix should thus reach approximately 70 %.

Rosatom also announced that the Paks II project has received the full support of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Likhachev said that this support is crucial for the project. He confirmed this after a trilateral meeting in Paks, which was attended by Szijjártó in addition to himself and IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi.

gnews.cz - GH