24th Austrian-Hungarian bilateral meeting

Austrian Hungarian Bilateral Meeting

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.

At the 24th bilateral meeting, the Hungarian delegation was led by Mr. Gyula Fichtinger, Director General of the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority. The members of the delegation were representatives of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology, the State Secretariat for the Maintenance of the Capacity of Paks NPP, MVM Paks NPP, Paks II. Ltd., PURAM, the National Public Health Institute, the National Food Chain Safety Office and the Hungarian Meteorological Service.

Led by Ms. Ulrike Hartmann, Director of the Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs, the Austrian delegation included representatives of the local governments in Austria, as well as officers of the Federal Ministry for Sustainibility and Tourism, the Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Research, the Federal Ministry of the Interior and experts from the Institute of Safety and the Federal Environment Agency.

Both parties informed each other about the events of the past one-year period that happened in their countries in the nuclear field.

Presentations were held about the legislative changes in both countries, and the Austrian party also reported on the results of the IRRS Mission in Austria this year.

Mr. László Juhász, head of department, HAEA, presented the recent developments at the Paks NPP. Dr. Attila Aszódi, Secretary of State, gave a presentations about the status of the Paks II project and then replied to the questions of the Austrian experts.

Detailed presentations were held by both parties about emergency preparedness, waste treatment and management, research and training reactors and radiation monitoring among others.

On the second day of the meeting, Deputy State Secretary, Ms. Andrea Beatrix Kádár presented the changes in the government structure, the plans for the development of a new energy strategy and the experiences of the recent IRRS Follow-up Mission.

In her closing remarks, the head of the Austrian delegation, Ms Ulrike Hartmann, highly appreciated the openness and cooperation of the Hungarian party and stated that the Austrian delegation had received comprehensive answers to all their questions.