Hungary Extends Life of Paks Nuclear Plant

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Hungary's only nuclear power plant looks set to continue operating for the coming decades, as the country's National Atomic Energy Office (OAH) granted a 20-year life extension to the Unit 2 reactor.

This is the second extension at the plant, with Unit 1 getting a 20-year extension in late 2012. Paks is located about 100 kilometers (km) south of Budapest and features four VVER-440 type reactors from Russian company AtomEnergoExport , which were commissioned between 1982 and 1987. They have a combined generating a capacity of 2,000 megawatts (MW) and supplied 51% of Hungary's electricity in 2013.

"The jewel of the MVM Group, the Paks Nuclear Power Plant, proved once again to be able to meet the very high standards required and the facility is in excellent condition," commented Baji Csaba, president and chief executive officer of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant, part of state-owned MVM Hungarian Power Companies Ltd. "The use of nuclear energy plays an important role and yields a number of benefits for the country, especially in providing a large amount of affordable electricity."

The company said it expects Units 3 and 4 to receive extensions in the near future. They are due to stop operating, according to their original operational life spans, in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

Hungary is keen to expand its nuclear power capacity. In July, Industrial Info reported that a €10 billion ($13.6 billion) financing package from Russia to build two new nuclear power reactors in Hungary was approved by the ruling government. The controversial deal with Russia's government was agreed by Hungary's parliament, opening the way for the construction of a 2,000 MW plant addition at Paks. Russia's Rosatom will provide a pair of its VVER-1200 reactors, with a combined generating capacity of 2,000 MW.

The deal has run afoul of the European Union (EU), which has not approved the project at Paks because there was no open tender for the plant expansion contract. Hungary's procurement procedures are currently being investigated by the European Commission (E.C.). For additional information, see July 11, 2014, article - Hungary Signs €10 billion Nuclear Deal with Russia.

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