UNITED NATIONS, July 24. /TASS/. Hungary is committed to building the Paks-2Nuclear Power Plant with the participation of Russia’s state corporation Rosatom and hopes that "first concrete" will take place this fall, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told TASS.
"We are absolutely committed to build this new nuclear power plant, because this is the cornerstone of our long-term energy sovereignty and long-term energy security," he said. "What we hope for is that during the autumn the so-called "first concrete" can take place, and we can accelerate the works on the site."
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 station 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.