On 15-16 October, 2018, the annual Austrian-Hungarian bilateral meeting was held at the Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs in Vienna, Austria. During the meeting, which was attended by several Austrian and Hungarian experts, both parties informed each other about the main changes, results and developments of the past year and the challenges ahead. The main topics of the meeting were the changes in the legal framework, the recent developments at Paks NPP, the status of the Paks II project, emergency preparedness, radiation protection, radioactive waste management and the topical peer review on aging management.
The new issue of the HAEA’s Nuclear Safety Bulletin presenting a number of interesting articles is now available. In the new issue you can read about the 2018 semi-annual safety performance assessment, the “Topical Peer Review” at Community level on the aging management of nuclear installations in Europe, the progress of the tasks after the Stress Test, as well as the Actions related to the ordering of the low water level of the Danube, etc.
In the first week of October a symposium on Communicating Nuclear and Radiological Emergencies to the Public took place in Vienna, organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency for the very first time in coordination with other international organizations (such as CTBTO, Red Cross, OECD NEA, Interpol, European Commission) with 400 participants and more than 70 presenters.
On 1 October the Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) team concluded an eight-day follow-up mission to review Hungary’simplementation of recommendations and suggestions made during a 2015 visit. The IAEA Mission sees significant improvements in Hungary’s regulatory framework.
Three years ago we interviewed Michael R. Johnson, team leader of the 2015 IRRS Mission. In this year’s follow-up mission, there is a smaller number of experts in the delegation and they have to finish their work in a shorter time. In one week, they have to review the present situation, conclude several interviews, and create the draft of the new report. Speaking about the new follow-up mission, we invited Mr Michael R. Johnson for an interview again to share some interesting details about the work they are here to perform.