János Süli, minister without portfolio responsible for the planning, construction and commissioning of the two new units of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant, emphasized in the hearing before the Parliamentar’s Sustainable Development Committee on Tuesday that the ever-increasing energy demand requires the construction of the new NPP units, which will produce affordable, reliable, clean energy, MTI wrote. Nuclear power plants are climate-friendly facilities that do not emit greenhouse gases, but also produce electricity safely independent from the weather, he added.

While total domestic renewable capacity was about 1200 MW last December, wind and solar power plants together were able to contribute to the peak of electricity consumption of 7105 MW with just 103 MW, the minister recalled.

Regarding the financing, he recalled that the investment will be finalized at a fixed price of EUR 12.5 billion by the Russian Contractor, Rosatom.

According to EU regulations, 55% of procurements must be international tenders. As an example, he mentioned that the I&C procurement was won by a Franco-German company and the implementation of the turbine island by an American-French company.

He announced that on 30 June, an application for the implementation license for the two new Paks units had been submitted to the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority (HAEA) on schedule. The authority has 15 months to review the application.

The documentation is almost three hundred thousand pages long and confirms that the units designed for Paks meet every relevant Hungarian and EU regulations and safety requirements. The license application also certifies that the power plant does not endanger its environment under any circumstances. The reactor is protected by a double dome system, the facility can withstand the impact of even a large aircraft, he added.

The minister also mentioned that the earthworks for the construction may start in the first half of 2021.