Rosatom has started excavation work at the construction site of the two new power units of the Paks-II NPP in Hungary, Alexander Merten, Vice-President of JSC ASE (part of Rosatom) and Director of the NPP construction project, has announced. He noted that the two new units are scheduled to be launched in 2030. “We have already started large-scale earthworks. Soil is being excavated at the site of unit 5 of the Paks-II NPP to the groundwater level, that is, up to minus five metres, and preparatory earthworks are underway for unit 6,” he noted.

The Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority (HAEA) issued the licence for construction of units 5&6 of Paks II in August. Currently, the Paks NPP, built according to the Soviet design, operates four power units with VVER-440 reactors. The Hungarian Parliament in 2009 approved construction of two new units. 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 construction licence will come into force in October. “We expect that in the fall of 2023 we can start pouring the first concrete,” Merten added.

Image: The Paks II development (courtesy of Paks II Ltd)