Paks expansion in construction phase, timetable signed

The expansion of the Paks nuclear power plant has gone beyond paperwork and the construction phase is well under way, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign affairs and trade minister said on Tuesday at the signing of the construction timetable for the upcoming years.

In the 2030s the new blocks can start producing electricity, he told a joint press conference held with Alexey Likhachev, head of Russian nuclear energy company Rosatom, hailing construction of the new reactors.

“Today we signed the schedule for the next few years … and we will be able to connect the new nuclear power plant to the grid at the start of the next decade,” Szijjártó said.

Paks is now the largest nuclear project in Europe with a construction permit, he noted. Besides the Russian main contractor, sub-contractors include several American, German, French, Swedish, Austrian companies, as well as a large number of Hungarian companies, he noted.

Soil excavation has taken place to a depth of five meters under each block, and the next stage is reaching a depth of 23 meters, he said, adding that 60 buildings will be built in the next six months.