13 Oct (NucNet): Hungary has reached a milestone in its radioactive waste management programme by completing the first stage of the Bataapati National Radioactive Waste Repository, 180 kilometres southwest of Budapest.

Construction began on the site in 2006 and includes surface storage and control facilities. Construction has also begun on underground storage halls � scheduled for completion by 2010 � under a granite hill where low- and intermediate-level nuclear waste will be stored.

When operational, the surface storage will be able to accommodate 3,000 barrels of nuclear waste from Hungary�s sole nuclear power plant, Paks, for interim storage until the waste is moved into the underground facility.

The Bataapati repository will eventually accommodate all waste arising from the 30-year operation of the four-unit Paks plant and the decommissioning of the plant. The site�s capacity can also be increased to cater for the proposed extension of operations at Paks beyond 30 years.

The chairman of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Jozsef Palinkas, speaking at a ceremony to mark the completion of the first stage of the Bataapati facility on 6 October 2008, said the site provides �the most extensive safety permitted by current scientific and technological knowledge�.

More than 90 percent of residents of the municipality of Bataapati voted to approve the construction of the repository in July 2005. The referendum had a voter turnout of 75 percent.

In November 2005, Hungary�s parliament approved the start of activities paving the way for construction. A resolution approved by an overwhelming majority of lawmakers also endorsed plans to extend the operational lifetime of Paks by 20 years until 2037.

In January 2008, Hungary�s former Public Agency for Radioactive Waste Management, in operation since June 1998, became a non-profit public limited company � Radioactive Waste Management Plc (or PURAM).
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>>Rel ated reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)

Hungarian Municipality Approves Construction Of Waste Repository (News in Brief No. 67, 14 July 2005)

Parliament Backs Hungary Repository And Paks Lifetime Extension Plans (News No. 176, 22 November 2005)

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