Paks Nuclear Power Plant Earns International Praise for Safety Commitment

MTI-Hungary Today 2024.11.22.

Paks nuclear power plant’s commitment to safe and reliable operation has been recognized by an international study, the operating company told MTI on Thursday.

The Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority and MVM Paks Nuclear Power Plant requested the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to conduct the so-called OSART study to identify further improvement opportunities for the plant’s operational safety based on the best available experience.

Photo: Facebook/MVM Paksi Atomerőmű Zrt.

The OSART study is a voluntarily requested assessment against the IAEA safety standards system.

It was mentioned that the Paks power plant has always been an active participant in the IAEA’s OSART program, which is now more than 40 years old. The 18-day OSART inspection included ten areas, covering almost the entire operational spectrum of the nuclear power plant.

Fact

The OSART (Operational Safety Review Team) program, conducted by the IAEA, evaluates the operational safety of nuclear power plants upon a host country’s request. During a three-week mission, an international team of experts assesses management practices, personnel performance, and adherence to IAEA Safety Standards across 14 review areas, including leadership, maintenance, emergency preparedness, and safety culture. The process involves interviews, document reviews, and on-site inspections to identify potential improvements. A draft report is prepared and reviewed, followed by a final report issued within three months. About 18 months later, a follow-up visit evaluates progress on recommendations, with over 95% typically addressed successfully. These missions aim not to regulate but to foster technical exchanges that enhance nuclear safety through shared best practices.

It was highlighted that the draft report concluding the investigation, based on the IAEA Safety Standards, identified a number of good practices in the activities of the Paks plant, which will be shared with the international professional community through the membership of the organization.

Among the improvement suggestions made by the investigators are that

managers should more effectively encourage workers to avoid failures, review the inspection system for maintenance equipment, and the use of equipment without seismic protection in earthquake shelters.

Yury Martynenko, the IAEA’s Senior Nuclear Safety Officer, highlighted in a statement that

they were pleased to find that the plant was very well prepared and cooperated fully with them.

János Péter Horváth, CEO of MVM Paks Nuclear Power Plant, stressed that the key to safety is, among other things, continuous improvement, constant regulatory control, and last but not least, the knowledge, experience, and commitment of the staff.

László Juhász, Deputy Chairman of the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority, noted that the international review did not make any observations that would have called into question the high safety level of the Paks nuclear power plant.

The recommendations and proposals of the review now concluded support the long-term preservation and consistent improvement of this safety level, and this is also the aim of the regulatory supervision activities of the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority.

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Via MTI; Featured image via Facebook/MVM Paksi Atomerőmű Zrt.