Dr. Attila Aszódi pointed out at the event that the Swedish Parliament – in agreement with the Green Party – decided to delist the special tax imposed on nuclear energy, which will take place in the coming years. They also aim to maintain the nuclear capacity on a long-term. Since the combined use of renewable and nuclear energy guarantees the operation of a well-functioning and low CO2-emission electricity system, beside the lifetime extension of the current power plant units, constructing new ones can be possible as well.

Regarding the new units in Paks, the government commissioner highlighted that the enviromental licensing is in progress, and the preparation work of the site licensing is still in progress as well. The former started in December 2014, and last year there the national and international public hearings were held.

Dr. Attila Aszódi also mentioned at the conference that within the framework of the preparations certain technical solutions have been clarified with the Russians, and the MVM Paks II. Ltd. notified the competent environmental authority (Baranya County Government Office). According to the refined technical solutions – keeping in mind the safety aspects – the new units’ constructional and industrial area will be slightly larger than originally planned, and the new units will be moved slightly farther away from the current ones. The new units will receive a separate hot water channel. He said that both the construction and the staging area remain within the industrial field of the Paks NPP. Examining the environmental impact of the technical solutions clarified above, it can be seen that the nature and magnitude of the environmental impacts have not changed significantly compared to the previously presented, and there isn’t any new affected.

Regarding the site license application Dr. Attila Aszódi said, during the licensing process it must be proved, that the site can accommodate the facility, and what effects do the the site and its surroundings have on the facility, and which external, human and natural hazards should be taken into consideration during the design of the nuclear power plant.

The construction license application can be assembled based on the data of the environmental and site license applications. The Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority has one year to evaluate the roughly one hundred thousand pages of document. Only following this evaluation can the project company receive the license, so the construction can begin.

Dr. Attila Aszódi government commissioner thinks the project company will receive the environmental license this year, and the site license application will be presented in 2016 as well. The construction of the new units is planned to start in 2018, and the two new units will begin their commercial operation in 2025 and 2026 respectively.