Paks nuclear plant project

LMP submits referendum initiatives to thwart Paks upgrade

paks

Budapest, March 2 (MTI) – The opposition LMP party has submitted referendum initiatives aimed at obstructing the planned upgrade of the Paks nuclear power plant.

LMP co-leader Bernadett Szél told a press conference on Thursday that the upgrade project must be put to a referendum so that voters have an opportunity to pass decision over the matter. She added that the constitution must also be changed if its provisions are in the way of a referendum, and noted that such modifications had been implemented before referendums on Hungary’s NATO and EU integration.

Ákos Hadházy, LMP’s other co-leader, said that the upgrade project could cost an estimated 6,000 billion forints (EUR 19.5bn), which he said equaled a contribution of 2 million forints from each Hungarian family. Voters are entitled to have a say in matters of such magnitude, while the government’s dialogue with the people had been “fictitious”, he insisted.

LMP has proposed the following questions to be put to voters:

“Do you agree that Hungary should not allow commissioning of nuclear plants with a combined capacity exceeding the capacity of the current blocks?”

“Do you agree that once the current nuclear blocks at Paks are shut down no electricity should be produced in any nuclear plant in Hungary?”

“Do you agree that parliament should pass a law stipulating that all nuclear capacities should be fully replaced by renewable energies from January 1, 2035?”

“Do you agree that parliament should oblige the government to terminate its agreement with Russia on cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy?”

“Do you agree that parliament should encode a ban on power production in nuclear plants after January 1, 2035?”

LMP: Paks upgrade ‘strategic issue’

paks

Budapest (MTI) – A referendum concerning a planned upgrade of Hungary’s Paks nuclear plant is “not just an opportunity but a must”, according to the green opposition LMP party.

Antal Csárdi, LMP’s member in Budapest’s municipal assembly, told MTI on Sunday that “the Paks upgrade is an even more serious issue than (Budapest’s) Olympic bid” because it also concerns the country’s sovereignty, let alone environmental and health risks.

“People have the right to decide if they want to see Hungary once again depending on Russia,” Csárdi said.

Csardi said his party would submit the referendum initiative to the National Election Office next week.

Green opposition to initiate referendum on Paks upgrade

atomic energy paks radioactive

Budapest, February 24 (MTI) – Green opposition LMP on Friday said it would initiate a national referendum on the upgrade of Hungary’s sole nuclear power plant in Paks.

The party will soon submit its referendum question to the National Election Committee for certification, LMP co-leader Bernadett Szél told a press conference.

She said the Momentum Movement’s signature drive for a referendum it had initiated on Budapest’s bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics had proved that the Hungarian people would not allow the government “to make certain decisions over their heads”.

Szél said the Paks upgrade needed to be put to a referendum because it was “an even riskier endeavour than staging an Olympics”.

LMP’s referendum question reads:

“Do you agree that nuclear power plants with greater electricity generating capacity than that of the nuclear power blocks currently operating in the country should not be made operational in Hungary?”

Szél said her party would use “any peaceful means necessary” to block the Paks investment.

Asked to comment on an earlier referendum initiative submitted in connection with the project by a Dialogue party MEP that had been turned down by the National Election Office on the ground that a referendum cannot be held in connection with issues governed by international accords, Szél said LMP would do everything it can to make sure their question passes.

She said the question they are preparing to submit would only be “the first step”, adding that if it is rejected, the party would keep submitting referendum questions until one is approved.

LMP board member Péter Ungár said the government had proved during the signature drive for the referendum on the Olympic bid that it “intends to govern against the people”. Ungar insisted that the Paks upgrade lacked majority support.

He said the reason behind LMP’s timing of its referendum initiative was that they could not expect the European Union to intervene in the project, as the European Commission is expected to close its last remaining infringement procedure against Hungary over the Paks upgrade next week.

The upgrade of the Paks plant is being financed by a loan from Russia.

Orbán-Putin meeting in Budapest – UPDATE

Budapest, February 2 (MTI) – Hungary and Russia are being forced to work together in a “difficult international environment”, as anti-Russian policies have become popular in western Europe, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said at a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest on Thursday.

Orbán: Hungary, Russia forced to cooperate in ‘difficult intl environment’

On the topic of European Union sanctions against Russia, Orbán said Hungary had suffered 6.5 billion dollars in losses because of the sanctions.

Orbán said it was wrong to transfer conflicts that are non-economic in nature to the area of the economy, arguing that such problems cannot be resolved through economic means.

Photo: MTI

He said cooperation between Hungary and Russia was something to be “cherished”.

 

Orbán: water industry firms to get opportunities in Russia

Following Hungarian agricultural companies, water industry firms will also get opportunities to invest and develop in Russia insofar as they are competitive, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said.

Orbán said this represented a breakthrough in foreign trade.

“As a result of dedicated work in recent years, when risks were also taken, we have managed to rescue and protect Russian-Hungarian relations as much as possible and we have a good starting position so that when the world returns to the logic of cooperation, the Hungarian economy can start off from a good position in the Russian market,” he said.

Putin: Paks expansion high on agenda at talks

The expansion of the Paks nuclear power station with two new blocks was high on the agenda of talks with Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

Putin told a joint press conference after his talks with Orbán that economic cooperation was a priority issue and the construction of two new blocks in Paks was high on the agenda. The 12 billion euro investment project will create 10,000 new jobs, he added.

Photo: MTI

Putin said ways to strengthen mutual trade and investments were also discussed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apBz93p-xIA

Hungary, Russia to start talks on post-2021 gas supply

Hungary and Russia are due to begin talks on extending gas supply agreements between the two countries beyond 2021, Prime Minister Orbán said..

Regarding the upgrade of Hungary’s sole nuclear power plant in Paks, which is being financed by a loan from Russia, Orbán said most obstacles to the nuclear cooperation between the two countries have been cleared.

He insisted that the bilateral agreements on the project were in line with European Union rules. The EU will soon come to a decision on the single remaining open question, on state aid, in connection with the project, he said.

Preparatory works on the upgrade are set to get under way later this year, with the actual implementation of the project scheduled to begin next year, the prime minister said.

Putin underlined his country’s commitment to supplying gas to Hungary with “100 percent reliability”. He said Moscow had not made it a political goal to stop transmissions of gas through Ukraine. If the route is reliable and it makes economic sense to use it, Russia will supply its gas via Ukraine, he said.

Hungary has the technical means to receive gas through the Nord Stream 2 pipeline via Austria or Slovakia, Putin noted.

Orbán: balanced Russia relations precondition for peace in Europe

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that he saw a chance for developing balanced and stable relations between the European Union and Russia, which, he said, was a precondition for peace in Europe.

“It is in the air” that the world is undergoing a major transformation, Orbán told a press conference after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. This transformation will create better conditions for European-Russian cooperation, including Hungarian-Russian cooperation, compared with “what has been experienced in recent years”, he said.

Orbán said a successful and stable Ukraine would be in Hungary’s interest, and the basis for this is peace. Peace should develop in line with the Minsk agreement, which, he said, includes vitally important elements for ethnic Hungarians living in Ukraine.

Putin: Hungary trusted, stable partner

Hungary is trusted, stable and solvent partner, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the news conference.

“It is in our interests to cooperate,” Putin said. “We will find a way to implement gas supplies. I’d like to depoliticise issues that are purely economic.”

“I’d stress that we do not rule out any direction [of gas supplies],” he said, adding that even Bulgaria may come into play after having yielded to European Commission pressure. “If it reconsiders its stance, then we could renegotiate the issue. But I’d like assurances that Russian companies are not going to make losses due to unconsidered decisions.”

Putin emphasised the importance of dialogue, equally with Brussels and bilaterally.

The Russian president said that over the past three years bilateral trade turnover had halved and that investments had also declined.

In order to advance investments and trade, the two countries will intensify cooperation in the energy sector, he said.

Putin said Russia attributed great importance to the expansion of the Paks nuclear power plant. The 12 billion euro investment covering the construction of the plant’s two new reactors will create 10,000 new jobs in Hungary, he said.

On the topic of oil and natural gas supply agreements between the two countries, Putin pointed out that Hungary gets most of its gas and oil from Russia. Hungary also serves as a transit country for delivery to other countries, he said. The president added that Hungarian oil and gas company MOL plans to boost production at its fields in Russia.

Putin said Hungary and Russia had agreed to boost cooperation in technology-intensive industrial areas. He noted a contract for trains for the Budapest metro and that Russian and Hungarian business partners had launched joint bids to supply railway carriages to third countries. Putin also noted the presence of Hungarian businesses in Russia’s pharmaceutical and farm industries.

He praised bilateral cooperation in the areas of culture, science and education, noting that more and more Hungarians were interested in learning Russian.

On another subject, Putin said he and Orbán were in agreement about the need to strengthen cooperation in the fight against international terrorism.

“We were in agreement that our efforts need to be unified,” Putin said.

He added that he had briefed Orbán about Russia’s position in connection with the situation in eastern and south-eastern Ukraine, and also about events in the Middle East.

Putin expressed hope that resolving the problems in the Middle East would contribute to the easing of Europe’s migration crisis.

“We are working together with our Hungarian partners in the aforementioned areas,” Putin said.

The Russian president blamed Kiev for the recent escalation in fighting in eastern Ukraine. He argued that the Ukrainian government was looking to present itself as a victim of the flare-up in order to win financial support from the West.

Putin also insisted that the country’s economic and social policies had failed. The Ukrainian government, he added, was trying to use the conflict as a way to silence its opposition.

Photo: MTI/AP pool/Szputnyik/Kreml/Alekszej Druzsinyin

Rosatom CEO trusts Paks upgrade will move forward as planned

Budapest, February 1 (MTI) – Russia’s Rosatom expects the European Commission to clear the upgrade of Hungary’s Paks nuclear power plan soon, allowing construction to start in 2018 as planned, CEO Alexey Likhachev said in an interview published in Wednesday’s issue of Magyar Idők.

Asked whether it was realistic to expect to begin building the two new blocks in 2018, Likhachev acknowledged the date as the planned start of construction.

“At present, the project is in the preparatory stage. It has got the first-degree environmental permit and our partners have turned to the Hungarian nuclear authority with a request for a site permit. We trust that approval will soon come from the European Commission regarding the last procedure and we can start the active implementation of the project,” he told the paper.

Likhachev said it was “still too early” to speak about concrete dates for calling tenders for the project’s non-nuclear elements.

“We are paying special attention to cooperation with suppliers. In the course of the project’s implementation, tenders for the procurement of equipment and services will be called in an open and transparent manner, fully in line with European Union rules,” he said.

He added that Hungarian companies’ contribution could reach 40 percent as stipulated in the contract for the project.

Rosatom is the general contractor for the Paks upgrade which is being financed with a loan from the state of Russia.

Likhachev will arrive in Hungary later on Wednesday for talks with government officials, ahead of a visit to Budapest on Thursday by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Foreign minister Szijjártó: Hungary loses USD 6.5 billion due to Russia sanctions – Interview

Moscow, January 24 (MTI) – Hungary’s economy has suffered losses of 6.5 billion US dollars over the period of three years due to sanctions against Russia, Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s minister of foreign affairs and trade, noted in a Tuesday interview to Russian daily Kommersant.

“Given that annual Hungarian exports amounted to 90 billion dollars, that’s a sensitive loss,” he said in the interview carried by Russia’s Tass news agency.

Szijjártó said the sanctions were ineffective and damaging. He said it was hopeful that economic punitive measures would be eased at the European Union summit in March. Much depends on dialogue between Russia and the United States, he said, adding that if all goes well in that respect then it would be easier to convince European partners to follow suit.

 

“The EU follows the lead of the US in many respects in terms of relations with Moscow, and we have not liked America’s policy on Russia. This is why we welcome Donald Trump’s victory,” Szijjártó said, adding that Hungary supports US-Russia dialogue and it would also like to be a “pillar” of Europe-Russia ties. Unless Europe pursues pragmatic dialogue with Moscow, much will be lost, not least in the competition with China, the US and the UK, he said.

The minister said that the debate over sanctions against Russia had descended to a low level, and several European countries were by now opposed to them. When it came to a vote, however, Hungary was alone in its position and in the end decided against using its veto because it did not wish to upset EU unity, Szijjártó said.

When President Vladimir Putin visits Budapest on Feb. 2, talks will focus on economic matters, he said. Hopefully the European Commission will come to a decision regarding the expansion of Hungary’s Paks nuclear power plant and the investment will get the go-ahead, he said. Hungary also wants to negotiate with Gazprom on cooperation after 2021, he said.

Szijjártó also said Hungary would not tolerate any moves in Ukraine that may compromise the rights of the Hungarian minority living there.

Hungary nuclear energy facilities safe in 2016 – OAH

paks

Budapest, January 18 (MTI) – All Hungary’s 4,000 facilities that use nuclear fuel met international safety requirements in 2016, the director general of the National Atomic Energy Office (OAH) said on Wednesday.

Gyula Fichtinger told a press conference that 28 malfunctions had been recorded last year. All were classed as “no safety relevance” on the international nuclear event scale.

OAH’s deputy director said the office was expected to pass a decision in the first half of the year on granting permission for two new blocks planned to be added to Hungary’s sole nuclear power plant in Paks.

The OAH issued a licence to extend the third block’s lifespan by 20 years last year and a decision on a similar extension application for the fourth block is expected to be made by the end of 2017, he said.

Photo: galaktika.hu

Energy, economic cooperation on agenda of Putin-Orban meeting

Budapest, January 12 (MTI) – Energy matters including Hungary’s Paks 2 nuclear power plant expansion project and economic cooperation will be in the focus of talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the government office chief, János Lázár, said on Thursday.
Speaking at a weekly press briefing, Lázár also dismissed “all kinds of references to and provocations” regarding “the abandonment of any national interest … either to the east or west.”
If the new block is not built then the country’s energy dependence on Russia will only grow, Lázár insisted, adding that the government’s position was clear: “We don’t want the Russians to come over across the Carpathians”. It is in the interest of the Hungarian economy that relations between the two countries should be “correct, fair and based on mutual respect”, he said.

Lifespan of Paks block 3 extended

paks

Budapest, December 22 (MTI) – The National Atomic Energy Office (OAH) has extended the operating life of block 3 of Hungary’s single nuclear power plant in Paks, 100 kilometres south of Budapest, for another 20 years.

The block went online in 1986 and its current permit was to expire on December 31, 2016.

The OAH earlier extended the lifespans of the plant’s number one and number two blocks by another two decades past the originally planned 30 years.

An application for extending the lifespan of the fourth block, which expires at the end of next year, was submitted in November.

The four blocks at the facility account for nearly 53 percent of domestic electricity generation.

Photo: galaktika.hu

Hungarian foreign minister meets Russian counterpart in Humburg

Berlin, December 8 (MTI) – Economic cooperation between Hungary and Russia is now on a path of improvement for the first time since the European Union introduced sanctions against Russia, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Hamburg after meeting his Russian counterpart.

After talks with Sergei Lavrov held on the sidelines on a ministerial meeting of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Szijjártó told MTI by phone that bilateral cooperation had suffered due to European sanctions but the Hungarian economy was again benefiting thanks to earlier bilateral agreements.

Szijjártó mentioned as an example new development projects by the Russian owner of Hungary’s Dunaferr steelworks. He added that obstacles were being removed in the way of the planned Paks nuclear plant upgrade.

Cooperation between businesses, mutual investments on each other’s markets and joint activities in third markets all serve to provide a counterweight to the negative effects of EU sanctions, he said, adding that his Russian counterpart confirmed this policy.

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Szijjártó said that political dialogue was moving ahead in a transparent manner and all high-level Russia-Hungary consultations were made public immediately.

Official bilateral foreign ministerial meetings take place on a yearly basis, he noted, adding that last year these took place in Moscow while this year it was Budapest’s turn. The next meeting will take place in Moscow on Jan 23, he added.

Bilateral relations are based on “pragmatic and rational” cooperation, Szijjártó said.

The minister said he was convinced that peace and security would only prevail in the international community if Russia-US ties return to “a rational course”. Budapest can contribute towards this goal, he said.Cooperation between businesses, mutual investments on each other’s markets and joint activities in third markets all serve to provide a counterweight to the negative effects of EU sanctions, he said, adding that his Russian counterpart confirmed this policy.

Szijjártó said that political dialogue was moving ahead in a transparent manner and all high-level Russia-Hungary consultations were made public immediately.

Official bilateral foreign ministerial meetings take place on a yearly basis, he noted, adding that last year these took place in Moscow while this year it was Budapest’s turn. The next meeting will take place in Moscow on Jan 23, he added.

Bilateral relations are based on “pragmatic and rational” cooperation, Szijjártó said.

The minister said he was convinced that peace and security would only prevail in the international community if Russia-US ties return to “a rational course”. Budapest can contribute towards this goal, he said.

Photo: MTI

Hungary seeks talks with Austria on Paks project

paks nuclear

Budapest (MTI) – A European Court suit Austria has launched over Hungary’s upgrade of the Paks nuclear power station is not expected to delay the project, government office chief János Lázár told a press briefing on Thursday.

Hungary accepts Austria’s decision to turn to the court over the Paks project, though it would prefer to handle the matter through a joint negotiating mechanism, he said, adding that the government is ready to hold bilateral talks with Austria and work out a way to give it access to all data and information in connection with construction and capacity maintenance of Paks 2, Lázár said.

Lázár expressed optimism that cooperation between the Hungarian and Austrian governments would be “good”. The Hungarian government respects the consensus formed by Austria’s political parties concerning nuclear energy, he said.

Lázár noted that the European Union had recently dropped an infringement procedure against Hungary concerning the Paks project. Another procedure concerning state financing could also be concluded in December, he said. Actual construction of the new blocks planned for Paks could start in 2017-2018, Lázár said.

Concerning Hungary’s deal with Russia to finance the Paks upgrade, Lázár said Russia had tendered the best bid. He added, however, that Hungary insists on an opportunity of early repayment and that interest paid on the Russian loan should be reviewed at regular intervals.

“We need to monitor the competitiveness of the Russian loan,” he said. In light of Hungary’s recent upgrade by rating agencies, the government needs to asses “how the interest on the Russian loan relates to changed market conditions,” Lázár said. “We will consider whether the loan would still be competitive if we were to take it out now”, he added.

Photo: napravalo.hu

EC closes infringement procedure over Paks plant 

Budapest, November 17 (MTI) – The European Commission has closed the infringement procedure it had launched against Hungary over public procurement rules in connection with the upgrade of the Paks nuclear power plant, the government office chief said on Thursday.

János Lázár noted at his weekly press briefing that Thursday’s decision meant the commission neither disputes “Hungary’s right to enter into an agreement with Russia” on upgrading the plant nor the loan financing the project.

Lázár said those who had “said otherwise”, such as Dialogue Party MEP Benedek Jávor, had been dealt a “resounding defeat”.

Lázár said he believed it was realistic that the upgrade could begin in 2017-2018, adding that Hungary had undertaken to apply EU procurement norms on up to 55 percent of the investment value. Further, a study on the illegal state aid is about to be concluded and the government is expected to receive this documentation next week.

Jávor in response said that the commission’s “contentious” decision had not come as a surprise but was “bad news for the Hungarian taxpayer” and would entail further legal disputes. Based on a letter received from the commission in August, Javor said in a statement that the decision had been based on “the mistaken interpretation of law”.

Despite the EC’s decision, the dispute over Paks is “far from over”, Jávor said, arguing that scrutiny by Brussels over Hungarian state aid to the project was ongoing.

Jávor said he awaited a response from the commission explaining the decision in detail, adding that the document would then be released to the public.

Jávor insisted that the Paks upgrade would “seriously hurt” Hungary financially, as well as in terms of its foreign policy and energy affairs, adding that he would continue his efforts to “fend off risks it poses to Hungary”.

Opposition party LMP said that notwithstanding the commission’s decision, it remained a fact that “the Russian investor in the Paks 2 project was selected without calling a tender”.

The government’s method of selecting the Russian investor violates both Hungarian and EU rules in an effort to politically facilitate Hungarian-Russian relations, Péter Ungár, the party’s foreign policy expert, told MTI.

Hungary environmental conditions improving, says minister

Budapest, November 3 (MTI) – Hungary’s environmental conditions have improved with the help of increased public awareness of environmental issues, Farm Minister Sándor Fazekas told a parliamentary committee on Thursday.

Highlighting this year’s achievements, Fazekas said fully 3,000 tonnes of waste were collected by volunteers in four days at the end of April, the government launched a programme to increase awareness of energy savings on heating and it purchased and put to use air pollution measuring devices under a 1.8 billion forints Swiss-Hungarian project.

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Further, the OECD will be starting an evaluation of the effectiveness of Hungary’s environmental policies at the end of 2016, Fazekas reported to the sustainability committee. The ministry has set up an inter-ministry committee to oversee the process, he said.

Fazekas said some 100,000 hectares of protected land would be restored under the Competitiveness Central Hungary operative programme and an environmental operative programme by 2023, spending 34.4 billion forints.

He said the environmental impact study for the Paks 2 nuclear upgrade project has been completed and the environmental authority issued the required licence for the project on September 29.

Benedek Sallai R., a lawmaker for the opposition LMP party, said at the hearing that environmental awareness-raising was more diverse earlier and he also called attention to the noise pollution suffered by residents living near Liszt Ferenc International Airport, as well as diminishing green areas in the country.

Photo: MTI

Commissioner: EU countries look to Paks 2 with interest

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Budapest, October 31 (MTI) – European Union countries are following Hungary’s Paks 2 nuclear upgrade project with interest, said Attila Aszódi, the government commissioner in charge of the project, on the sidelines of an energy conference in Prague on Monday.

Most countries operate electricity systems using big fossil-fuelled power stations built in the 1970s-1980s, Aszódi told journalists. Nuclear power plants were typically built in the 1980s and these plants will reach the end of their original or extended lifespans within the next 15 years, he added. At the same time it is expected that the EU will introduce regulations so that fossil-fuelled power plants will have to be shut down within the next 15 years, he said. All this could mean that Europe will be facing a shortage in capacities if the necessary upgrades are not carried out. Paks 2 is an answer to these challenges, Aszódi said.

Aszódi added that Hungary’s talks with the European Commission on Paks 2 are technically over and a final agreement on the conditions for building the new blocks could be drafted soon. By the spring of next year all licences should be in hand and construction could begin in 2018, he added.

LMP calls on government to suspend spending on Paks project

paks

Budapest (MTI) – The opposition LMP party is demanding that the government should stop spending on the Paks nuclear plant expansion project until the European Court of Justice establishes whether the investment is planned to be implemented with prohibited state aid, member of the party’s national board Péter Ungár said in Budapest on Sunday.

Austria, Luxembourg and Greenpeace have said they would submit an appeal to the European Court of Justice against the licence the European Commission is expected to issue so the case could turn into a legal procedure taking several years, Ungár said.

The Paks expansion project is contrary to Hungary’s national interests and moves the country closer to Russia both politically and in terms of energy policy, he said.

Nevertheless, press reports say the European Commission is expected to license the investment, he said, which shows that it is not on the side of European and Hungarian citizens but takes the side of business lobby groups.

LMP, on the other hand, believes that the Hungarian government should close down the entire project and cancel the “Orbán-Putin pact”, the contract signed between Hungary and Russia, the opposition politician said.

IAEA mission notes improvements in Paks operational safety

paks

Budapest (MTI) – Hungary’s sole nuclear power plant at Paks has improved its operational safety, according to a review by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the plant’s operator said on Wednesday.

An Operational Safety Review Team (OSART) from the IAEA has recently concluded a five-day follow-up mission to assess work the Paks plant conducted in response to a review by an OSART mission in 2014, MVM Paks Atomeromu said.

“The Paks Nuclear Power Plant has worked effectively to address recommendations and suggestions identified by the OSART mission in 2014, and we saw good progress in the plant’s operational safety,” said team leader Fuming Jiang, according to a statement IAEA issued after the mission was completed.

“We also noted that more work is needed for some recommendations and suggestions to be fully implemented, and we encourage the plant to continue its work to ensure sustainable improvement,” Jiang added.

The IAEA said that recommendations to improve the control and storage of maintenance equipment and material, to enhance identification and reporting of deficiencies of systems and components, and to better manage chemicals and other substances had been fully implemented.

The agency added that the OSART team had said recommendations and suggestions to reinforce safety conscious behaviour of staff, to improve the operating experience programme and to improve contractor management “still required further work”.

Photo: Daily News Hungary

Energiaklub, Greenpeace appeal environmental licence of Paks project

paks-nuclear-hungary

Budapest, October 18 (MTI) – Energiaklub and Greenpeace Hungary have submitted an appeal against the environmental licence for the expansion of Hungary’s Paks nuclear power plant to the National Inspectorate for Environment, Nature and Water, Energiaklub told MTI on Tuesday.

The two non-profit organizations said the environmental impact study serving as the basis for the licence contains blatantly unlawful parts and shortcomings and fails to answer questions such as what would happen in the event of a serious accident, where the spent fuel rods would be stored for the long term and how the power plant’s heat load would impact the wildlife of the Danube River.

Energiaklub and Greenpeace said the Natura 2000 impact estimate in the study is incorrect. They also said they believe that the thermal and radioactive stress of the Danube would violate the obligation stipulated in the EU’s Water Framework Directive and the water catchment management plans.

They said the requirements specified by the authorities are often not accountable and do not clarify the duties of the license-holder MVM Paks II Zrt.

Photo: MTI

Greenpeace, Energiaklub to appeal Paks environmental protection permit

paks

Budapest, September 30 (MTI) – Greenpeace Hungary and Energiaklub will submit a joint appeal to the authority that has issued an environmental protection permit for the upgrade of the Paks nuclear power plant, the two organisations said on Friday.

The announcement about the Government Office of Baranya County issuing the permit was made by the government commissioner for the upgrade project on Thursday.

Obtaining the permit from the environmental protection authority shows the upgrade meets EU and Hungarian rules on protecting the environment and nature, said Attila Aszódi.

He noted that the process of making the environmental impact study for the upgrade had started late in 2014. The international consultation phase wound up late last August, he added.

Greenpeace and Energiaklub, however, said that the impact study had failed to clarify a number of major issues and had based its assertions on “unfounded, outdated and mistaken” pretexts.

The study does not clarify, for instance, the treatment of radioactive waste or the unfavourable temperature change the project may cause to the Danube’s water, they said. It has also failed to clarify several other environmental effects, the two organisations said in a statement.

They noted that they had earlier submitted as a party included in the licensing process their respective opinions about the impact study to the Baranya County government office. The government office, in line with the regulations, must consider these, they added.

Hungary is building two more blocks at the Paks plant with financing from Russia.