Postponed Policy

Abstract

The main source of nuclear waste in Hungary is the four VVER-440 reactors at the Paks site, which began producing commercial electricity between 1982 and 1987. At the time of plant construction, in the 1970s, an agreement was made between Hungary and the Soviet Union that spent fuel should be transported to the Soviet Union for reprocessing. This was the practice for more than a decade; the last shipment took place in 1998, with a total of 2,331 spent fuel cartridges transported to Russia. Although this final shipment took place 18 years ago, there has been no final decision regarding Hungary’s nuclear waste management strategy. The reference scenario foresees domestic deep geological disposal, however the option of shipping spent fuel to Russia for reprocessing still remains open. Spent fuel is currently stored in an interim storage facility next to the Paks NPP.

A complex screening procedure for a potential waste disposal site (hosting either high level waste from decommissioning or spent fuel as well as high level waste) started in 1999. As a result, six geological formations were “recommended for further research”. The most favoured is the Boda Siltstone Formation in the Western Mecsek Mountain, in the southern part of Hungary. According to plans, the site will start to operate in 2064.

The Hungarian national programme, based on the Council Directive 2011/70/EURATOM was prepared by the government and submitted to the European Commission in August 2015. The document was made public in June 2016, and its final version was adopted by the government in August 2016.