The Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority has Started the Preparation for the IRRS Mission

Nuclear safety and security are top priorities in the European Union. Member states should organize the self-evaluation of their regulatory authorities at least every ten years and request international peer reviews to continuously improve safety (Directive 2009/71/Euratom Article 9). In order to comply with the directive, the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority initiated a review mission to take place in the framework of the IAEA IRRS.

The activities of the Hungarian nuclear, health and environmental authorities will be reviewed.

The process has started with a self-evaluation phase based on IAEA Standards and Guidance, followed by the international expert review conducted by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

In the end, the IRRS mission report can provide - among other things - a review about the effectiveness of the regulatory authorities, if necessary conditions are provided for their operation, how to improve their monitoring activities and their level of preparedness to license new nuclear power units.

At the two-day preparatory meeting, which was attended by Mike Johnson, senior expert of the United States nuclear regulatory authority (U.S. NRC) and team leader of the IRRS mission, participants primarily dealt with practical issues such as the time and scope of the review, the number of international staff and the official visits.

Mr Kristóf Horváth, Deputy Director General for General Nuclear Issues of the HAEA, in his opening speech emphasized the openness of the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority to international peer-reviews and also the active participation of Hungarian experts in missions to other countries. He stated that the IRRS mission is an important step, which will affect the entire regulatory system and the oversight of a broad spectrum of applications (from X-ray machines to nuclear power plants). The Deputy Director-General also informed the representatives of IAEA that the Hungarian authorities with the leadership of the HAEA had been making good progress in the preparation and they will provide the required conditions for the 2015 visit of the IRRS mission.

Mr Szabolcs Hullán, Deputy Director General for Nuclear Safety Issues of the HAEA assured the review mission of the full support of the regulatory authority.

More information about the IRRS missions in general can be found here.