The Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority has taken part in an international emergency response exercise in the series of ECURIE exercises organized by the European Commission. Thirty countries were involved in the two-day challenge which provided an opportunity for the use and test of a variety of IT support and communication systems (ECURIE communication system, the EURDEP restricted website and the emergency audioconferencing system), as well as the operation of the HAEA’s Emergency Response Organization (ERO). During the exercise the prior task of the HAEA was to support the European Commission with advice, evaluation and recommendations for off-site protective measures.
On 12-13th October, 2015 the headquarters of the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority gave place to the Austrian-Hungarian bilateral meeting. During the meeting – assisted by almost 40 experts – the parties mutually informed each other about the main changes of the last one year, the challanges ahead, results and developments achieved. Special interest was laid by the Austrian delegation on the operating cycle extension at Paks NPP, the state of play of the new nuclear units, emergency preparedness, radioactive waste management and on the results of the IRRS Mission conducted in May, 2015.
The European Nuclear Security Regulators' Association (ENSRA), decided on cooperation with the Western European Nuclear Regulators’ Association (WENRA) on the annual meeting, held between 30th September and 2nd October, and approved the new website, created under the Hungarian chairmanship, to be public.
The assessment of activities of the nuclear facilities – beside the licensing and inspection tasks – belongs to the most important elements of regulatory oversight. One of the main duties of the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority is to guarantee nuclear safety, prevent the occurrence of nuclear accidents within the framework of the law and using the resources that the Hungarian citizens provide through their elected representatives. The Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority, as part of its nuclear safety oversight activity, annually evaluates the safety performance of the nuclear facilities and the safety level of the nuclear facilities’ activity. The abstract of the report is available on HAEA’s website.