BUDAPEST, March 18. /TASS/. The assumptions of the economic weekly Vilaggazdasag about the delay in the construction of the Paks-2 nuclear power plant in Hungary are baseless and incorrect, Zsolt Harfas, an expert on nuclear energy and host of the Atombiztos blog told TASS.

"The article in Vilaggazdasag is not based on facts. The author’s conclusion about a later date for the construction of power units is incorrect, and official statements about the early 2030s are a realistic date," said Harfas commenting at the request of TASS to comment on a publication in the Hungarian magazine.

Last week, Vilaggazdasag reported that construction of the Paks 2 nuclear power plant could be delayed by about two years from the original plan and would therefore be completed in 2033-2034. The weekly came to this conclusion after analyzing data from the operator of the national energy system Mavir and the timing of the issuance of licenses by the nuclear energy department. The magazine also noted that they are no longer talking about the commissioning of two new power units at Paks in 2030-2031, using instead the expression "the beginning of the next decade."

On November 14, 2023, Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom and the Hungarian Foreign Ministry signed a schedule of construction for the Paks-2 nuclear power plant that runs through the early 2030s.

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.