The outcome of the stress test started in the Paks Nuclear Power Plant may lead to security increasing measures above the level required in international practice so far, reported Minister of National Development Tamás Fellegi at the nuclear safety conference of the International Atomic Agency held in Vienna on 20 June 2011.

Tamás Fellegi recalled that the European Union had responded without delay on the Fukushima accident by convening a High-Level Conference in March with the participation of heads of government, authorities and industrial sectors. During this meeting the idea of performing targeted security reviews, widely known as “stress tests”, was raised. Last month, the Member States agreed to perform stress tests on a voluntary basis. The European Council decided to review, simultaneously with the stress tests, the current legislative and regulatory framework governing the security of nuclear facilities in the European Union by the end of 2011.

From the very beginning, Hungary had been in favour of performing stress tests; Mr Fellegi emphasised, and added that the National Atomic Energy Agency had already handed over its official requirements regarding the content of the stress tests to the Paks Nuclear Power Plant. He highlighted that the findings of the targeted security review, expected for the autumn, may lead to tighter security increasing measures than required in the international practice so far.

Tamás Fellegi also mentioned the considerable efforts made by the Hungarian Presidency at having the Council Directive on the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste adopted. This issue was one of the priorities of the Presidency, as illustrated by the 12 compromise text versions prepared during these six months. Following discussions of several months, the Member States achieved agreement in every issue. The European Parliament would decide on the proposal on 22 June 2011, the Minister said.

Hungary was among the first 59 countries to join the International Atomic Agency and has been actively participating in its operation ever since. The supervisions performed by IAEA in Hungary had confirmed Hungary’s unconditional commitment to the constant improvement of nuclear security, Tamás Fellegi added.

The ministerial conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency held between 20-24 June 2011 gives the opportunity to determine the direction to follow in order to reinforce nuclear safety, sharing experiences and proposing future action. The participants can draw conclusions from the lessons learnt of the Japanese nuclear disaster, and assess national, regional and international stand-by conditions and emergency response capacity. A ministerial declaration was adopted in this issue during the conference.

(Ministry of National Development , Department of Communication)