The Permanent Mission of Hungary to the UN in Vienna together with Hungarian Power Companies Ltd. organized an exhibition about the Paks Nuclear Power Plant at the Rotunda in the Vienna International Centre
At the inaugural ceremony on Monday 7 May opening remarks were delivered by Mr. Pál Kovács, Minister of State for Climate-change and Energy, and by Mr. Denis Flory, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of Department of Nuclear Safety and Security. The exhibition is on display from 7 to 18 May 2012.
As members of the Board of Governors of the IAEA for the period of 2011-2013, we have prepared an ambitious program consisting of various events. This exhibition is part of our effort to increase the visibility of our work as well as the transparency of our activities to further enhance the role of nuclear energy in Hungary.
The panels at the exhibitions give a detailed presentation on the main facilities, the expansion project, as well as some natural features and environmental aspects of the NPP. The title of the event is: “The Hungarian NPP Paks from a different perspective – nature and expansion”. Hungary believes that transparency and public diplomacy are important to maintain confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of nuclear energy. Most of the pictures were taken in the direct vicinity of the NPP by the photographer Bálint Vincze. The pictures show as the NPP operates in an eco-friendly manner, it does not discharge carbon-dioxide, therefore it does not contribute to climate change. With the operation of the four units in Paks, each year, we save almost as much oxygen as all the forests produce in Hungary in a year.
The facility in Paks also does not have any measurable impact on the local flora and fauna or the health of people living in the vicinity. The four reactor units at the Paks NPP - located about 115 km south of Budapest on the right bank of the Danube - have supplied about 40% of Hungarian electricity generation for more than 25 years. The units of the power plant are the most important basic pillars of Hungary’s supply security.