Index – Economy – It will be as big as 16 Airbuses – production of the reactor tank of the Paks nuclear power plant has begun in St. Petersburg

Péter Szijjártó responded to a journalist’s question at a joint press conference with his Czech colleague, Jan Lipavsky, and reported that the zone melt trap has already been completed and will be delivered to Hungary in the summer, exceeding expectations.

“The operation itself will not be easy, as the weight of the equipment is the same as that of sixteen Airbus passenger planes,” explained the minister. In addition, he called it good news and a real milestone from the point of view of the Paks expansion that on Thursday the production of the other nuclear equipment with a long production time, the reactor tank, also began in St. Petersburg.

The reactor tank is the part of the nuclear power plant where the chain reaction takes place, so it is the heart of the power plant, and production started yesterday in one of Europe’s largest automated forge plants in St. Petersburg

– He told.

He added, “this is a huge device, it is 11 meters high, 4.5 meters in diameter, the wall thickness is 30 centimeters and it will weigh 330 tons, the weight of the castings is 600 tons, so it is a huge job. The device itself is formed under a pressure of 12,000 tons, it must be functional for at least 60 years at 330 degrees Celsius and under a pressure of 162 bar”.

According to the minister, this also proves that the works are progressing according to schedule with the investment in Paks in order to be able to connect both new blocks to the network at the beginning of the next decade. He emphasized that with this Hungary will take a huge step in the security of its energy supply.

On Thursday, we reported that Paks II was completed. the first major equipment of the investment, the zone melt trap of block 5. The 730-ton equipment arrives at the Paks site by water. The equipment is a third-generation special security-enhancing solution developed by Russian engineers.

The Hungarian EU presidency is approaching

In his joint press conference with Minister Jan Lipavsky, the head of the ministry also pointed out that the current visit is taking place at an extraordinary time when the world is facing serious challenges, but it is hoped that all this can strengthen the Central European community of destiny, as the countries of the region are facing the consequences of the devastating war in the neighborhood the most .

He emphasized that one of the main goals of the upcoming Hungarian EU presidency is to stop the decline of the community, and the other is for the government to carry out a true Central European presidency. According to his words, by the latter they mean that they want to focus on important topics for Central Europe.

He also announced that they will focus on the effectiveness of the fight against illegal migration, accelerating the EU’s expansion to the Western Balkans and guaranteeing energy security. He then explained that Central Europe has directly experienced the dramatic effects of migration waves since 2015, and that serious regional cooperation was needed to stop the immigration flow.

Czech, Slovak and Polish policemen helped and are helping us at the southern border of Hungary to keep out illegal immigrants who pose a threat to Europe. And the joint continuous effort of the prime ministers of the four Central European countries is necessary to keep the issue of quotas under control and not to allow thousands and tens of thousands of illegal migrants to roam here unchecked. So we will continue to resist quota pressure in the future

– He told.

Regarding the Western Balkans enlargement, Péter Szijjártó called it unworthy that the member candidates in the region have been waiting for entry for an average of 14 years and 11 months, which also undermines the credibility of EU policy.

After that, he also touched on the topic of energy security. As he said, both states are planning nuclear developments, which is why they will continue to stand up in Brussels against negative discrimination against nuclear energy. “Nuclear energy is a sustainable form of energy production, a safe, environmentally friendly and cheap way to produce large amounts of electricity,” he declared.

Speaking about bilateral relations, the minister believed that the Hungarian-Czech cooperation is much closer than it is in the public mind. He emphasized that the Czech Republic is Hungary’s sixth largest trading partner, and last year the record for bilateral trade was broken, the value of which has now exceeded 14 billion euros.

(Cover photo: Jan Lipavsky and Péter Szijjártó. Photo: Péter Szijjártó / Facebook)