Rosatom began excavation work at the construction site of a nuclear power plant in Hungary

MOSCOW, September 13 – PRIME. Rosatom has begun large-scale excavation work at the construction site of two new power units of the Paks nuclear power plant in Hungary, Alexander Merten, vice president of ASE JSC, a member of Rosatom, director of the nuclear power plant construction project, told RIA Novosti.

“We have already started large-scale earthworks. Soil is being excavated at the site of unit No. 5 of the Paks-2 NPP to the groundwater level, that is, up to minus five meters, preparatory earthworks are underway for unit No. 6. All this is accompanied by additional support work : organization of physical protection around future blocks No. 5 and No. 6, construction and installation facilities are being built, specialized archaeological supervision is also provided, work is being carried out to strengthen the soil and anti-filtration protection, temporary roads and other works are being built,” Merten said.

At the end of August, the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority issued a general license for the construction of the fifth and sixth units of the Paks-2 nuclear power plant, the fifth reactor vessel of the Paks-2 nuclear power plant, and six permits for the construction of a “nuclear island”.

The only nuclear power plant in Hungary, Paks, is located 100 kilometers from Budapest and five from the city of Paks. The station was built according to the Soviet project, it operates four units with VVER-440 reactors. The Paks nuclear power plant now generates almost half of all electricity in Hungary, and with the planned commissioning of two new Paks units, this share is expected to double. For Hungary, nuclear energy is a way to ensure its energy security, the leadership of this country has repeatedly emphasized.

At the end of 2014, Russia and Hungary signed documents on the construction at Paks NPP of new power units No. 5 and No. 6 with reactor plants according to the advanced Russian project VVER-1200, which meets the most modern standards of reliability and safety. It was reported that Russia would give Hungary a state loan of up to 10 billion euros for the Paks-2 project, and the total cost of the work would be 12.5 billion euros.