Péter Szijjártó: the cut-off wall works have started - Paks 2 EN
Péter Szijjártó: the cut-off wall works have started
In its summary of the press conference in Budapest, MTI reported that the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade said that the cut-off wall works of the Paks project have started, and the soil excavation under Unit 6 will start in August, as well as the finalization of the licenses required for the complete soil excavation is proceeding as planned.
Péter Szijjártó welcomed the fact that following the EU's approval, the opportunity to accelerate the Paks II. project has opened up, and the cut-off wall works have started, and the soil excavation under Unit 6 will start in August. He also informed that the finalization of the design plans for the soil consolidation is underway, as well as the finalization of the licenses and plans for the full soil excavation, which are on schedule, and the production of the reactor vessel as well.
The minister said that the Russian government will approve the amendment to the financial agreement in a few days, which will be followed by the signing of the amended EPC contract. He said that every legal work had been done to speed up the Paks project.
– The new Paks nuclear power plant is the long-term guarantee of Hungary's security of supply, and therefore Hungary has never supported and will never support any sanctions that would restrict the nuclear industry or its operation – emphasized Péter Szijjártó. He added that the sooner we can produce the largest possible share of Hungary's electricity, the sooner we will be secured.
The cut-off wall is a two-and-a-half-kilometer circumference, one-meter-thick water barrier wall that will act as a „curtain” around the new nuclear power plant's units underground. It is up to 32 metres deep. Its function is to ensure that groundwater can only enter the working pit in a controlled and minimal way and to prevent groundwater levels outside the cut-off wall from decreasing, which is a crucial requirement for the currently operating four units of the Paks NPP.
Cut-off wall works will be carried out along a working pit deepened to groundwater level (minus five meters), first on the eastern side of the area, closer to the Danube.