Russian Rosatom pledges full transparency for Paks expansion project

The contracted preparation and construction of the Paks nuclear plant upgrade will be fully transparent throughout the entire investment and will comply with European Union directives, Alexey Likhachev, head of Russian energy giant Rosatom, said in talks on the construction phase with János Süli, the minister without portfolio responsible for the project.

The first phase of construction is scheduled to start in January 2018, Süli said, with the building of the construction village at the site.

Likhachev, heading a large delegation, said that

the two future “generation 3-plus” reactors of the Paks nuclear plant “are virtually twins to those soon to be switched on near St. Petersburg, and live up to the highest quality requirements”.

He said he saw “no obstacle” to the project starting next January. The purpose of his visit, he said, was to agree on the most important tasks in connection with starting construction.

Süli said the presence in Paks of Rosatom’s chief in itself confirmed that work to begin the project was irreversible.

Rosatom aims to employ local suppliers for 40 percent of contracted tasks during the investment, Likhachev said. They expect to surpass this ratio in the first phase of the construction, he said.

“It is an absolute must for us to strictly keep to the schedule, and … [Hungary] is also committed to working according to the schedule,” Likhachev said.

“The real construction work will start in January and nothing will stop the investment from now on,” Szijjártó told reporters after talks between Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who visited Hungary on the occasion of the World Judo Championships.

As we wrote yesterday, the decision on extending the operating life of block 4 of Hungary’s sole nuclear power plant in Paks could be made by the end of the year, a national development ministry official was quoted as saying at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) most recent general assembly in Vienna on September 18-22.

Photo: atomeromu.hu

Source: MTI