The site permission procedure of the new Paks blocks may be brought to a close next spring, and the Government Commissioner responsible for maintaining the performance of the Paks atomic power station sincerely hopes that they will soon be granted the relevant environmental permission at second instance as well.

Attila Aszódi said at the conference Portfolio Energy Investment Forum 2016 in Budapest: some six thousand permits are required for the construction of the two new blocks of the Paks atomic power station, and from among these two large permission packages are currently on the agenda.

He reiterated that the environmental impact study was submitted in December 2014. The Baranya County government office issued the environmental permission at first instance in September this year which was contested by two green organisations.

There will be another public hearing in Hungary in connection with the site permission, but in contrast to the environmental impact study, there is no need for an international consultation in this instance. After this, they will start working intensively on the application for a facility installation permit, the Government Commissioner said.

Regarding the site permission, Mr Aszódi told his audience: as part of the permission procedure, it is necessary to determine the features of the site which experts will have to take into consideration during the course of the planning of the power station, and to substantiate that the site is suitable for accommodating the facility.

During the course of the site permission procedure, the issues to be investigated fall into two main groups: on the one hand, it is necessary to evaluate the sources of threat that are related to human activities, and on the other hand, the investigation is required to identify and assess all possible natural threats, he said.

The Government Commissioner pointed out: with the construction of the power plant, the role of atomic energy may be retained in our domestic electricity generation on a long-term basis. The Paks blocks will be able to supply one third of the country’s electricity needs cheaply, safely and without any carbon dioxide emissions over an extended period, up to the end of the century, he stressed.

Andrea Kádár, Deputy State Secretary for energy issues at the Ministry of National Development highlighted in her lecture among others that the national energy strategy identified three fundamental goals: maintaining the safety, long-term sustainability and competitiveness of Hungary’s energy supply.

The Deputy State Secretary pointed out: energy efficiency and energy saving are tools which serve these three goals at once.

Hungary agreed on a voluntary basis to reach 14.65 per cent regarding the share of renewable energy sources by 2020, and treats this undertaking as a priority. The long-term use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes forms part of the means to achieve this, she added.

The Deputy State Secretary described regional cooperation schemes as fundamental from the respect of Hungary’s energy policy, along with the role of the State, on the one hand, through the reinforcement of the regulatory role of the State, and on the other, by means of the intensification of its proprietary role.

(MTI)