Nuclear safety at the Paks Plant

The Paks Nuclear Power Plant is located on the Danube river 114 km south of Budapest. It consists of four PWR units of the Soviet VVER-440 design. These are of the second generation design VVER 440 (model 213) with safety features as of 1975. It should be emphasized that these are two different generations of VVER 440 units. This is not always clear, not only to the general public, but sometimes even to people working in the nuclear industry. The widespread criticism of the first generation type 230 reactors is often extended to model 213 reactors, as the differences between the two models are often not sufficiently emphasized. In this situation it is very important to provide balanced information about the advantages and disadvantages of this reactor type. This paper attempts to do that. (author)