Government to apply for permit for new Paks blocks this year

The government plans to submit the application for the construction permit for two new blocks of Paks nuclear power plant to the energy authority by the end of the year, the minister in charge of the upgrade project told an international conference on Wednesday.

The application contains some 200,000 pages of text and another 100,000-150,000 pages with charts and supplements providing technical specifics, János Süli said at the conference held in Pécs, in southern Hungary, focusing on the legal aspects of the upgrade project.

The authority will have 15 months to evaluate the documentation, Süli said, adding that international experts would be involved in the process over a 12-month period.

Hungary signed an agreement with Moscow in January 2014 on the construction of two blocks at the Paks nuclear power plant by Russia’s Rosatom. Russia is lending Hungary 10 billion euros to cover 80 percent of the project’s costs.

Source: MTI