The Paks II. project reached another major milestone, as the manufacturing of the reactor pressure vessels – „the heart of the nuclear power plant” – has started, informed us foreign minister Péter Szijjártó on his Facebook page. As in the case of other long-lead items, the manufacturing of the reactor vessels is linked to specific license. 

The reactor vessel is the main equipment of the nuclear power plant, the „heart of the power plant”, the controlled chain reaction happens here. The heat generated here is transformed into kinetic, then electric energy. 

The start of the production can only start following an audit. This was the case this time as well: the Hungarian professionals made sure on-site that every necessary requirement is met to start the production.

The reactor pressure vessel, which weighs 330 tons of weight and is more than 11 meters high, will be manufactured in Russia in 36 months, with the continous supervision of the Russian and Hungarian experts. 

The reactor pressure vessels will be moved to Paks by water. Their insertion and installation require extreme precision, with a maximum tolerance of one tenth of a millimetre in the horizontal direction.
The manufacturing of the core catchers, also belonging to long-lead items, started at the end of August. 

The core catcher is one of the safety-enhancing technical solutions that characterize the upgraded 3+ gen. VVER-1200 units that will also be constructed in Paks.

Work is already underway at the Paks site, with ground preparation work already being carried out. The first concrete elements will be in place in the autumn of 2023 and the reactors will be connected to the grid by 2030.