Hungary, China agree to cooperate in training nuclear staff

Hungary and China have signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate in education and research and development in the nuclear power sector. Hungary's national development minister Miklós Seszták and the head of China's National Energy Administration Nur Bekri signed the agreement in Budapest on 26 May.

Hungary and China have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to cooperate in education and research and development in the nuclear power sector. Hungary's national development minister Miklós Seszták and the head of China's National Energy Administration Nur Bekri signed the agreement in Budapest on 26 May.

Bekri and Seszták after signing the agreement (Image: Bartolf Ágnes, Hungarian government)

According to a statement issued by the Hungarian government the same day, Seszták said Hungary welcomed the steps China had taken in the development its own nuclear power industry that will "contribute greatly" to the reduction of global carbon dioxide emissions.

The MOU aims to develop and strengthen cooperation between the two countries in nuclear education, the dissemination of knowledge and research and development activities, the government said. It enables cooperation between educators, researchers and specialists in the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes from the two countries to provide and develop practical and theoretical training; transfer knowledge of nuclear power plant installation, operation and maintenance and radioactive waste management; and enhance public awareness and acceptance of nuclear energy.

The Hungarian ministry noted that it had signed a similar agreement with Vietnam in September 2013. The first step in the framework of that agreement is a large-scale nuclear training program and there have been several delegations of Vietnamese nuclear specialists to Hungary since September 2012. The Institute of Nuclear Techniques of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics has provided six-week training courses for more than 200 students, the government said.

In February, Hungary signed an MOU on cooperation in the training of nuclear energy personnel with Russia. The agreement, which was signed in Budapest by Sergey Kirienko, director general of Russia's Rosatom and Zoltan Balog, Hungary's minister of human capacities, followed an intergovernmental agreement Russia and Hungary signed in January 2014. According to that agreement, Rosatom is to build two new units at the Paks nuclear power plant. Under the MOU, the two countries will cooperate in education, training and science related to the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News