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Comment from environmental activist group,
Greenpeace, on the future of Hungary’s Paks Nuclear Power Plant
Dear Editor,
The serious incident at the No. 2 reactor at Paks Nuclear Power Plant can be
considered a warning for those responsible for the renewal of Hungary’s energy
strategy. The failure of the cleaning operation ended up causing the most
critical European nuclear danger since Chernobyl. The permanent fall-out
of one reactor - 10 percent of the country’s production – also caused instability
to the country’s electricity market. The Paks plant is nearing its originally
scheduled end of its life cycle, and the four reactors should be shut down
between 2012 and 2016. Alarming facts, meanwhile, are apparent: every year
an increasing number of failures, nuclear events and incidents are reported
in the power plant’s annual safety report. The serious incident in April
2003 underlines this. There is now a review of the National Energy Strategy,
one that bases Paks as the main source of energy, with its 40 percent share
of the country’s production. The government must ensure the needed electric
energy production while discontinuing its dependency on the nuclear industry.
What are the risks? Ageing reactors at Paks present an increasing
risk for a potential nuclear catastrophe, the nuclear power plant
is the country’s most sensitive target of terrorism, a fall-out
of two reactors due to failure or maintenance at the same time
brings near countrywide electricity restrictions and blackouts,
while final treatment of the highly radioactive nuclear waste is
still an unsolved question.
The answer is simple: instead of investing billions of forints
in safety and security improvements, Paks should be shut down at
the end of it’s original life-cycle. Time is running out, and the
decision must be taken soon. Yes, a decision of this dimension
requires determination, long-term thinking and responsibility for
the next generations. And yes, I hope the responsible decision
makers have these qualities.
Roland Csáki
Campaigner Greenpeace
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