[en] The 25/2009 Decision of the Hungarian Parliament has granted prior consent to begin preparatory works to build new reactor blocks at the Paks Nuclear Power Plant site. Based on that Decision, the Hungarian National Atomic Energy Authority, as the supervising organization of nuclear activities, has started to develop nuclear safety standards for the new blocks. The draft regulation is complete; professional consultation is currently underway. This article presents the additional requirements of the current legislation and the new blocks. (TRA)

[en] Features of the present regulation: • The nuclear industry has two priorities today: safety of the operation and reliability of the supply. • Principle 7 (Protection of present and future generations) of the IAEAs’ Fundamental Safety Principles states: „The generation of radioactive waste must be kept to the minimum practicable level by means of appropriate design measures and procedures, such as the recycling and reuse of material.” • However there is no efficient regulation to implement this minimization principle. Our proposal: • We would like to introduce the “safety, reliability and waste management“ concept, which prefers actions and permanent management, demonstrating an active care for nuclear wastes. • Our opinion is that the nuclear industry cannot strengthen and justify its future without a sustainable radioactive waste management program. • In other words: The nuclear industry cannot leave nuclear waste, concerns or question marks behind.

[en] Full text: 1. Current situation - Hungarian legislation does not exclude Lr of the units; There are no detailed instructions how to renew the current licence after 'design lifetime'; There is only one type of Time Limited ageing Analyses in Final Safety Analysis Report: Rp embrittlement; Fatigue analyses, equipment qualification or other TLAA's are not included in the Far; There are a lot of statements without background documentation about the operability of certain equipment for 30 years; Ageing is managed as part of maintenance, test and ISI activities; FSAR has been elaborated on the basis of NRC Reg. Guide 1.70 and has to be updated yearly, but there are big gaps in the design bases information in comparison with R-G 1.70 requirements; Periodic Safety Review complies with guide 50-SG-O12 of the IAEA; it is to be submitted to RB every 10 years. 2. Preparatory activities, performed by HAEA - Studying IAEA documents related to ageing; Studying US NRC documents related to ageing and LR; Listing equipment, which needs ageing management; Identification of scope and structure of ageing analyses; Ageing analysis of selected equipment (provided by TSO VEIKI); Preparation of guides on ageing management in accordance with Hungarian regulations' structure; Studying NRC Reg. Guide 1.70 on FSAR and IAEA safety guide 50-SG-O12 on PSR (identification of gaps and overlaps in these documents); Comparison of international experience with Hungarian opportunities (identification of gaps in input information). 3. Lessons learned from preparatory activities - Design basis documentation of Paks NPP needs completion and re-evaluation; The ageing Management Program should cover all SSCs important to safety in consistent and auditable manner; Equipment qualification was not included in initial design basis therefore the EQ documentation is not complete and part of equipment does not comply with EQ requirements; Effective maintenance of technical condition of safety related equipment has not been regulated and inspected to sufficient extent by the RB; The four areas mentioned above have to be properly managed both by the utility and the regulatory body. This is not only a prerequisite for LR, but it has to be solved in the frame of current operating licence. (If licence renewal is a chair, these areas are the four legs of it.) 4. Achievements and further tasks - Guides for ageing management have been developed and agreed as well as guides for equipment qualification; Draft guides for LR application have been elaborated. They can be issued after discussion on and agreement of the concept of licence renewal; There is an agreement on starting the NRC's 'Maintenance Rule' implementation; New role and content of PSR and FSAR has to be defined and related regulations have to be carefully reviewed; The legal basis to all these efforts has to be accomplished by modification of the Governmental Decree 108/1997 and the Nuclear Safety Regulations in 2002; A timetable has to be elaborated for the tasks to be performed: under current licence conditions (before application for licence renewal); before expiration of design lifetime; and during the renewed operating licence period. (author)

[en] Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority (HAEA) is changing its inspection practice and assessment methods of safety performance and safety culture in operating nuclear facilities. The new approach emphasises integrated team inspection of safety cornerstones and systematic assessment of safety performance of operators. (author)

[en] Here we report some X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy data on the x-ray-, electron-, or ion-beam induced chemical changes of an aromatic polyethersulphone, demonstrating that, at least on the polymer surface and in the low keV range, other chemical processes may also be of importance in the degradation mechanism. (author)

[en] We have explored a new type of experiment in which the beam-induced surface changes of MgO, SiO₂, Al₂₃, TiO₂, V₂O₅ and MgAl₂O₄ are determined by XPS after ion bombardment at 2.5 keV with Ar⁺ or N₂⁺. The initial bombardment, typically with Ar⁺, led to a combined surface cleaning and loss of O. Although the relative extents of these were difficult to establish, the result was in every case to define the composition in an N-free situation. After a subsequent bombardment with N₂⁺ the O content was distinctly lower than that after Ar⁺ impact, with the extra O deficiency in each case made up almost exactly by the N addition. For example, Al₂O₃ evolved from a nominal Al₂O_2.74 to a nominal Al₂O_2.20N_0.48. The chemical state of this N was predominantly nitride-type, indicative of M-N bonds (M, metal). The observed replacement of M-O bonds with M-N bonds is disfavoured by thermodynamics and this, combined with the already mentioned tendency for the extra O loss to be closely matched by the N addition, together constitute a strong indication that the disturbed lattice is to some extent relaxing randomly. Interestingly, however, the extent by which N replaces O increases as the energy change calculated for this replacement decreases. This confirms, in agreement with a large body of earlier work, that the changes in the oxides are to some extent also chemically guided. The similarity to ion beam mixing and to ion-beam-induced grain growth is worth noting, where again one finds a mixture of ballistic (i.e. random) and chemically guided behaviour. (Author)

No abstract available

No abstract available