MOSCOW, February 7. /TASS/. The start of the construction of the Paks-2 nuclear power plant (NPP) in Hungary is planned for 2024, Rosatom Chief Executive Officer Alexey Likhachev told reporters on Tuesday.

"The first concrete is set [to be poured] next year," he said, replying to a question on when the nuclear plant’s construction would start.

The plant's construction is underway in accordance with the contract, the CEO added. "The stage of turning around the construction and entering the second phase, as we understand it, has already been predetermined. <…> If the client lays out the objective to accelerate then we will accelerate [it]; if it is to follow the framework of today’s contractual obligations, then we will proceed within the contractual obligations," Likhachev explained.

The Paks nuclear station, which was built with Soviet technology, and which uses Russian nuclear fuel, provides half of all generated electrical power and one-third of electricity consumed in Hungary. At present, four power units with VVER-440 reactors operate at the station built about 100 kilometers south of Budapest on the banks of the Danube. Currently, the groundwork is being laid to build two new power units designed by Rosatom. Concurrently, preparations are in progress for the construction of second stage facilities as part of the Rosatom project. Specifically, those new units are called Paks-2. Once the two new VVER-1200 nuclear reactors are up and running, the Hungarian government expects the plant's capacity to increase from its current levels of 2,000 MW to 4,400 MW.