Plant Operation

Hungary’s Nuclear Facilities Operated Safely In 2017, Says Regulator

By David Dalton
22 January 2018

22 Jan (NucNet): Facilities supervised by the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority operated safely during 2017 with 27 security related events reported, all of which were rated as Level 0 on the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES), the HAEA said in its annual press conference in Budapest.

Level 0 on the seven-level INES is a below scale event of no safety significance.

The HAEA supervises operations at Hungary’s only commercial nuclear station, the four-unit Paks, and other nuclear and radiation-handling facilities including a 10-MW research reactor at the Atomic Energy Research Institute.

The HAEA said its main challenge is to increase its staff numbers from around 170 to a target of 200, with specialists needed for processing permits for two new Russian-supplied units at the planned Paks 2 nuclear station. According to the HAEA, challenges include paying high enough salaries to keep experts in the country.

The two planned units at Paks 2 are expected to begin commercial operation in 2026 and 2027, Attila Aszódi, the Hungarian government’s commissioner for the project, told a conference in Brussels late last year. The HAEA said it expects to receive the construction licence application this year.

The Paks 2 project received its environmental and site permits in September 2016 and April 2017. An agreement signed in 2014 will see Russia supply two VVER-1200 pressurised water reactors and a loan of up to €10bn ($11.8bn) to finance 80% of the €12bn project.

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