Western companies are ready to cooperate with Rosatom on nuclear power plants in Hungary

MOSCOW, September 13 – PRIME. Western partners and Hungarian contractors confirmed their readiness to continue cooperation on the construction of the Paks-2 nuclear power plant, despite the sanctions, Alexander Merten, vice-president of Rosatom JSC ASE, director of the nuclear power plant construction project, told RIA Novosti.

“As you know, so far the sanctions have not affected nuclear energy and Russian companies involved in this area. It is important to note that our Western partners – the supplier of turbogenerator equipment GE-Alstom and process control systems – a consortium of Siemens and Framatome, like many of our Hungarian the contractors confirmed their willingness to continue this project with us,” Merten said.

Earlier, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations of Hungary, Peter Szijjártó, called on the European Commission to guarantee that nuclear energy does not fall under sanctions and that all European institutions comply with this provision.

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.