BUDAPEST, March 29. /TASS/. The foundation pit of the Paks-2 nuclear power plant has been completed in Hungary, but a ceremony to mark first concrete being poured has been delayed for technical reasons.
"Work to dig the foundation pit for Unit One reactor building has been completed at the Paks-2 construction site. A permission from the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority to start pouring concrete is now expected," the Russian embassy in Hungary said on social networks.
The construction is being carried out in accordance with the project by Russia’s state-run nuclear corporation Rosatom.
A TASS correspondent learned that the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority, which oversees the project and issues permissions for every stage of construction, has not yet given the green light to first concreting, scheduled to take place in the first quarter of 2025. Previously, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto and Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev said on several occasions that first concrete is expected to be poured by the end of March.
The plans, however, had to be adjusted following soil fracture somewhere inside the pit. Rosatom said the incident had no effect on the foundation pit’s technical specifications, but work in that area was suspended in accordance with the Hungarian watchdog’s decision. In other areas, construction efforts continued without any limitations. Paks II CEO Gergely Jakli said that "this event will have no effect on the future of the NPP construction project."
The Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority requested a report on additional checks and measures taken in connection with the soil fracture, but has not yet issued permission for first concreting. The permission is expected soon.
Paks NPP
The Paks NPP plant, built by Soviet specialists in the 1980s and powered by Russian nuclear fuel, provides half of all electricity generated and a third of electricity consumed in Hungary. Currently four VVER-440 pressurized water reactors are in operation at the Paks NPP, located on the bank of the Danube 100 kilometers south of Budapest.
The construction of a second stage of the plant - its fifth and sixth units - is in progress underway. Moscow has confirmed its readiness to finance the Paks-2 project, estimated at 12.5 bln euros, which from the very beginning was supposed to be 80%-funded with a Russian loan.
According to preliminary calculations, after the commissioning of two new VVER-1200 reactors, the plant's capacity will increase from the current 2,000 megawatts to 4,400 megawatts. It will bring the total share of nuclear reactor-generated energy in the country’s to 70%.