MOSCOW, May 21. /TASS/. Rosatom is doing everything to ensure that, despite external pressure, the pouring of the first concrete at the Paks-2 NPP being built in Hungary takes place this year, head of the state corporation Alexey Likhachev told reporters.
"That’s a difficult question. We are doing everything to ensure that this happens this year. But in this case, it does not depend only on us," he said responding to a relevant question.
The Paks NPP, which was built with Soviet technologies, and which uses Russian nuclear fuel, provides half of all generated and one third of consumed electricity in Hungary. At present, four power units with VVER-440 reactors operate at the plant built about 100 kilometers south of Budapest on the banks of the Danube.
In late 2014, Russia and Hungary signed documents on the construction of new power units 5 and 6 at Paks NPP with reactor plants of the advanced VVER-1200 project, 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, with the total cost of construction exceeding 12.5 billion euros. The Hungarian government expects that after the commissioning of two new VVER-1200 nuclear reactors, the plant's capacity will increase from the current 2,000 megawatts to 4,400 megawatts.