The European Commission may consent to the state grant to be provided for the enlargement of the Paks atomic power station in the near future, Attila Aszódi, the Government Commissioner responsible for the maintenance of the performance of the Paks atomic power station said on Monday on the public service television news channel M1.

He added: there are two licensing procedures in progress in relation to the enlargement of the Paks atomic power station. One of them is the environmental licence at second instance, while the other one is the site licence. The competent authorities, the environmental authority at second instance and the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority will issue these licences this spring, as expected, he said. If these licences are available, it will be necessary to compile the technical plans of the power station and to draft a preliminary safety report. He added: this is when it is determined whether the licensee’s plan package complies with the Hungarian legal rules and the nuclear safety regulations.

He highlighted: the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority has 12 months plus 3 months for the review of the site licensing plan, and the construction of the buildings with nuclear relevance may begin thereafter. Mr Aszódi said: the construction of Paks II does not increase Hungary’s dependence on Russia because also today the country is using atomic power station blocks in Paks with an output of 2,000 megawatts. They seek to build the planned new blocks in order to sustain the power output of the atomic power station even after the old blocks are decommissioned.

He said that if Paks II were not built, the lost capacity should be replaced with power stations running on gas which would indeed increase Hungary’s dependence on the importation of pipeline energy. Additionally, the operation of the new atomic power station blocks will be carbon dioxide emission-free which is a further advantage. As an additional benefit, the operation of the atomic power station blocks will have a low cost level, Mr Aszódi said.

(MTI)