The first concrete pour at the 2.4GW Paks-II nuclear power plant in Hungary will take place by 2025, Rosatom’s director-general Alexey Likhachev stated during a visit to the construction site.

The plant is now complete and construction of a workshop for reinforcement products is taking place. Five metres of soil excavation work for unit 6’s foundation pit is also progressing and similar work for unit 5 has already been completed.

The next stage includes stabilisation of soil at the site of future units and preparing the pit for the first concrete pour. One million cubic metres of soil will be removed.

Rosatom chief executive Alexey Likhachev stated: “The main stage of Paks-2 NPP construction began last month, and today we are already actively working at the construction site, constantly increasing the pace. We expect the first concrete to be poured at the end of next year – at the beginning of 2025.”

Rosatom also stated that it plans to begin manufacturing long-lead equipment. Its suppliers in Hungary are actively involved in the work, with more than 140 companies involved in several areas of the project so far.

As many as 1,000 jobs could be created at the site by 2024 and this count is expected to increase to 10,000 during the peak construction phase.

In August 2023, the Russian company’s subsidiary, Atomstroyexport, began main-stage construction on two new water-water energetic reactor-1200 power units at the Paks II nuclear power plant.

These works began after Atomstroyexport and Hungarian company Duna Aszfalt began preparing to excavate the pit where unit 6 will be located.

Rosatom secured the licence to build the project from the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority in August 2022. The project is being built with an investment of $13.6bn (Rbs1.31trn).