Rosatom CEO trusts Paks upgrade will move forward as planned

Budapest, February 1 (MTI) – Russia’s Rosatom expects the European Commission to clear the upgrade of Hungary’s Paks nuclear power plan soon, allowing construction to start in 2018 as planned, CEO Alexey Likhachev said in an interview published in Wednesday’s issue of Magyar Idők.

Asked whether it was realistic to expect to begin building the two new blocks in 2018, Likhachev acknowledged the date as the planned start of construction.

“At present, the project is in the preparatory stage. It has got the first-degree environmental permit and our partners have turned to the Hungarian nuclear authority with a request for a site permit. We trust that approval will soon come from the European Commission regarding the last procedure and we can start the active implementation of the project,” he told the paper.