Nuclear Power in Hungary

 

Consideration of future options for Hungary involves the so-called Visegrad 4 group countries — Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary, which are cooperating closely on nuclear power issues, including in research into future reactor designs and infrastructure development. 

Fuel cycle

Hungary has some uranium resources around the Mecsek deposit in the south of the country, but no present production. The Mecsek underground mine near Pécs operated from 1958 to 1997. Initially ore was shipped to Estonia for milling, but from 1963 it was milled on site and the concentrate was exported to the Soviet Union. A total of about 21,000 tU was produced at an average recovery of 50-60%. Since 1997, the mine has been decommissioned and remediated at considerable expense (about €110 million).

In August 2008, the Australian company Wildhorse Energy Ltd joined with state-owned Mecsekérc to assess the feasibility of restarting uranium mining at Mecsek Hills. This led to an agreement with Mecsekérc and Mecsek‐Öko signed in October 2009 which covered all of the uranium resources in the Mecsek region over some 72 sq km^b. A further joint venture agreement with both government-owned groups was signed early in 2012, bringing Mecsek‐Öko's MML-E licence (the former uranium mine area) together with Wildhorse's Pecs licence to give combined JORC-compliant inferred resource of 30,000 tU at 0.061%U. The company expects to increase this substantially. The government has commenced a social, technological, and environmental inquiry into the feasibility of restarting uranium production.

 Wildhorse is also developing an underground coal gasification project nearby at Mecsek Hills, in conjunction with uranium plans.

All fuel supply is contracted from Tvel in Russia.

2003 Fuel damage incident: 

 A program to chemically clean partially used fuel was curtailed following an accident, which was rated Level 3 on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES)^c. In 2001, unit 2 at Paks was the first ever reactor to be reloaded with fuel that had been chemically cleaned⁴; however, in April 2003, at the same unit, 30 fuel assemblies were badly damaged inside a cleaning tank due to insufficient cooling⁵.  The assemblies overheated in the cleaning tank which was submerged in the transfer pond so that most became deformed with burst cladding, releasing a lot of radioactivity into the water, with noble gases into the plant area. Five batches of fuel had been cleaned before the incident, to remove magnetite corrosion products from the steam generators, which impeded coolant flow in the core. Radioactive gases were emitted through the stack for several days, and the reactors was out of service for 18 months.

Radioactive waste management

Although preparations are being made for direct disposal of used fuel without reprocessing, there is no policy decision on reprocessing and it appears unlikely that used nuclear fuel will be reprocessed. In the past, some used fuel has been returned to Russia for reprocessing, but without repatriation of separated fissile materials.

Since 1998, a levy on nuclear power production is paid into the Central Nuclear Financial Fund to pay for storage and disposal of radioactive wastes, including used fuel, and decommissioning.

The state-owned body responsible for all waste management, waste disposal and decommissioning is the Public Limited Company for Radioactive Waste Management (Radioaktív Hulladékokat Kezelő Kft., RHK Kft), formerly the Public Agency for Radioactive Waste Management (PURAM)^d.

Under 1995 policy, used fuel is stored in pools at Paks for five years then transferred to an interim (50-year) dry storage facility there.

For low- and intermediate-level wastes, the Püspökszilágy Radioactive Waste Treatment and Disposal Facility (RWTDF) began operation in 1977^e. The RWTDF also accepted wastes from Paks until 1996 and the 5040 m³ capacity facility became full in 2005.

Following the decision to construct a new repository for low- and intermediate-level wastes from Paks^f, PURAM carried out geological investigations over a decade, and finally focused on a repository site in granite in the south of the country, about 30 km from Pécs. In mid-2005, the residents of Bátaapáti voted to approve construction of a repository for low- and intermediate-level wastes there, and this was approved by Parliament. In December 2006, the government declared the Bátaapáti site an "investment of extraordinary significance", paving the way for accelerated licensing. The €150 million surface facilities of the National Radioactive Waste Repository were opened in October 2008, and construction of underground vaults 200-250 m deep for short-lived intermediate-level wastes allowed operation from December 2012.⁶ It will eventually accommodate 40,000 cubic metres of wastes.

Paks waste that was sent to RWTDF at Püspökszilágy will eventually be moved to Bátaapáti National Radioactive Waste Repository for final disposal, so that waste disposed at RWTDF will only derive from institutional (i.e. non-power) sources.

For long-lived ILW and high-level wastes, a claystone formation near Buda in the southwest Mecsek Mountains is being investigated, and a preliminary safety analysis has been made for a deep geological repository there^g.  It is expected to begin operation after 2060.

Research & development

The Atomic Energy Research Institute (KFK AEKI) operates the Budapest research reactor of 10 MW, which started up in 1959 and was rebuilt in 1991. In 2009, it was converted to operate on low-enriched uranium. The Technical University of Budapest (BUTE) operates a training reactor of 100 kW. A zero-power critical assembly has been decommissioned.

Regulation and safety

Under the amended Atomic Energy Act 1996, the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority (HAEA) is responsible for safety policy, safeguards arrangements, licensing, safety, wastes and regulation. The Nuclear Safety Directorate of the HAEA is responsible for the safety of nuclear installations.

Handling of radioactive materials and wastes, together with radiation protection generally, is regulated by the Minster of Health. However, ensuring low levels of release and exposure are among HAEA's responsibilities.

The Hungarian Energy Office advises on tariffs for both grid network and the public service, and these are set by the Minister for Economy & Transport.

Non-proliferation

Hungary is a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) since 1969 as a non-nuclear weapons state. It is member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and since May 2004, of Euratom. The Additional Protocol in relation to its safeguards agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency came into force in 2000.

Further Information

Notes

a. In 2009, total gross electricity production was 35.9 billion kWh, of which 15.4 billion kWh (43%) was from nuclear. Net nuclear generation in 2009 was 14.6 billion kWh. [Back]

b. WildHorse executed a cooperation agreement with Mecsekérc and Mecsek‐Öko in October 2009 to develop the Mecsek Hills Uranium Project Area, which includes WildHorse’s Pécs uranium licence and the MML‐E licence held by Mecsek‐Öko. The Hungarian state-owned mining agencies Mecsek‐Öko and Mecsekérc hold the mining concession for the areas covering the closed Mecsek uranium mine, which joins the western boundary of the WildHorse Pécs and Abaliget licences, acquired in 2006. The Mecsek Hills Project Area has an exploration target of 41-54,000 tonnes U3O8, with a grade range of 0.08‐0.12% U3O8.

Mecsek‐Öko is responsible for the environmental remediation, reclamation and monitoring works associated with the historic Mecsek uranium industry. Mecsekérc is involved in radioactive waste disposal and various environmental remediation projects, as well as geological, hydrogeological and mineral resource prospecting. [Back]

c. Chemical cleaning of partially used fuel assemblies is only known to have been carried out on used fuel at Paks. The fuel assemblies supplied by Russian manufacturer Mashinostroitelny Zavod (MSZ) had been in the reactor core for between 0.5 and 2.5 years. During this time, corrosion products had built up on the assemblies, restricting the flow of coolant. A method of cleaning these fuel assemblies was developed by Framatome ANP by adapting the chemical oxidation reduction decontamination (CORD) process, which uses permanganic acid (for oxidation) and oxalic acid (for reduction). [Back]

d. In January 2008, the Public Agency for Radioactive Waste Management (PURAM) became the Public Limited Company for Radioactive Waste Management. The agency is often still referred to as PURAM. [Back]

e. An isotope burial site at Solymár, located about 20 km north of Budapest, operated from 1960 until 1975, by which time a total volume of 900 m³ radioactive waste had been accepted. Between 1977 and 1980, the waste was moved to the Püspökszilágy facility and the storage facility in Solymár was decommissioned. [Back]

f. Expansion of the Püspökszilágy Radioactive Waste Treatment and Disposal facility (RWTDF) to meet the requirements of the Paks power plant was ruled out for a number of reasons. Paks Nuclear Power Plant then attempted to find an alternative site but initially failed when, in 1990, the local citizens of Ófalu opposed the construction of a facility there. As an interim solution, the capacity of RWTDF was expanded and, between 1992 and 1996, waste from Paks was sent to RWTDF.

After extensive surveys covering the whole country, in 1996, the region of Üveghuta (not far from the Paks nuclear plant) was chosen for further investigation. Site studies over the next few years eventually resulted in a final report in 2003 that concluded that the Bátaapáti (Üveghuta) site is geologically appropriate for the disposal of low- and intermediate-level waste (LILW). Underground investigation work commenced at the beginning of 2005 and Parliament gave preliminary approval by an overwhelming majority later that year. A 2006 Government Decree declared construction of the Bátaapáti waste repository to be a priority investment project. [Back]

g. Investigations in the Boda Claystone in the west part of Mecsek began in 1993. However, in 1999, the government rejected a proposal to establish an underground research laboratory there. A new investigation program in the same area commenced in 2003. Subject to the results of the site qualification test program and regulatory approval, construction of an underground research laboratory is expected to commence by 2020. [Back]

References

1. Paks Nuclear Power Plant operates at 2000 MW power, Paks Nuclear Power Plant press release (20 November 2009) [Back]

2. More power for Paks, World Nuclear News (25 May 2007) [Back]

3. MVM Zrt Board of Directors accepts the concept for preparation of capacity expansion, Paks Nuclear Power Plant press release (26 February 2010) [Back]

4. Chemical cleaning of fuel assemblies, Nuclear Engineering International (30 August 2001) [Back]

5. INES level 3 for Paks, Nuclear Engineering International (17 May 2003) [Back]

6. Hungary inaugurates permanent waste repository, World Nuclear News (9 October 2008) [Back]

General sources

Public Limited Company for Radioactive Waste Management (RHK, formerly PURAM) website (www.rhk.hu)
Paks Nuclear Power Plant website (www.atomeromu.hu)
Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority (HAEA) website (www.haea.gov.hu)
Country Nuclear Power Profiles: Hungary, International Atomic Energy Agency

Wildhorse Energy Ltd