During Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Hungary on 17th February 2015, a Memorandum of Understanding on personnel training in the field of nuclear energy was signed by the Minister of Human Capacities and the chief executive of the Russian national nuclear corporation Rosatom.

According to an intergovernmental agreement signed on 14th January 2014 by the Hungarian and Russian governments, Rosatom is to build two new reactor blocks at the nuclear power plant in Paks, Hungary, in order to maintain the plant’s capacity. On the basis of the memorandum of understanding signed today, the parties will cooperate in the fields of education, training and science related to the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

In accordance with the memorandum of understanding, joint educational and training programmes will be developed by the parties in order to provide highly-qualified personnel related directly to the new reactor blocks and also to associated university training.

The Russian Federation is the world’s leading country in nuclear power plant operation. At present 34 reactor blocks are in operation across the country and a similar number of Russian-designed and commissioned blocks are operating in other countries. A significant proportion of ongoing construction projects are being carried out by Rosatom.

A high-priority for Hungary is to benefit from Russian professional experience at different levels of the training programme, and to further expand its nuclear training system, which stretches back nearly 60 years, thus enabling the safe construction and operation of the new reactor units in Paks. Hungary expects that the professionals participating in the building and future operation of the new nuclear units could take part in training programmes in Russia for shorter or longer periods of time, thus giving them the opportunity to become familiar with the technology of the new units destined for Paks as soon as possible.

In the field of university-level education related to nuclear energy, further protocols related to the memorandum of understanding signed in Budapest will allow university students to take part in training courses in Russia. The memorandum of understanding will provide the opportunity for university lecturer exchange programmes and also for cooperation in joint scientific research programmes.

The excellent safety and operational results of the current nuclear reactor blocks in the Paks nuclear power plant are to a large extent ensured by skilled operation and maintenance personnel, and the memorandum of understanding signed on Tuesday will guarantee the training and future supply of such personnel.

(Ministry of Human Capacities)