An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) International Physical Protection Advisory Service (IPPAS) team on 7 July completed a nuclear security mission in Hungary at the government’s request as a follow-up to an IPPAS mission completed in 2013. The team looked at the legislative and regulatory framework for nuclear security as well as the physical protection of nuclear and other radioactive material and associated facilities and activities. Hungary’s implementation of the 2005 Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, which entered into force in 2016, was also discussed. Hungary ratified the Amendment in 2008.
The team, led by Stephan Bayer, Director of the Nuclear Security Section in the Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office, included seven experts from five states and the IAEA. The team met in Budapest with officials from the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority (HAEA), the National Police Headquarters and other organisations involved in nuclear security.
The team was briefed on security arrangements for Hungary’s planned construction of two new nuclear power reactors at the Paks NPP, as well as nuclear material accounting and control for security at the state level and nuclear facilities. The team concluded that Hungary has made "commendable progress" in implementing the recommendations and suggestions of the previous mission. It identified a number of good practices and made some additional recommendations and suggestions for continuous improvement.
