How the giant Paks II development is progressing

Our newspaper regularly reports on the progress of Hungary's major energy investment, the Paks II. Now Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has given a brief update on the work from Vienna. In his speech at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference in Vienna, the minister reported on the construction of the two nuclear power plant units, among other topics.

Briefly assessing the status of the Paks expansion, he said that the work is progressing well, the first concrete will be laid this year, the excavation of the working pit will start soon, the level of soil consolidation is at 35 percent, while under one of the nuclear islands is already completed, about 25 thousand piles have been drilled into the ground.

A thousand people are working on the site," he said. He added that in parallel, the government was also working to extend the lifetime of the four existing reactors at Paks.

The country will be overwhelmingly powered by nuclear energy

In his speech, he also pointed out that the Paks II investment will increase the share of nuclear energy in the electricity supply in Hungary to 70 percent, while gas consumption will be reduced by three billion cubic metres and carbon dioxide emissions by 17 million tonnes. "If we take these facts into account, we can ask what is green if nuclear energy is not," he said.