Improving Research Reactor Accident Response Capability at the Hungarian Nuclear Safety Authority

The paper describes the design and implementation of an on-line operation monitoring and accident response support system to be used at the emergency response center of Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority (HAEA). The system is called CERTA VITA and it is able to monitor the four VVER-440 units of the Hungarian Paks nuclear power plant (NPP) during their normal operation and during emergencies (including severe accidents). As a result from the analyses following the severe accident at Fukushima the HAEA decided to extend the CERTA VITA system on the Budapest Research Reactor (BRR), which is a tank type research reactor with 10 MW thermal power. The extension of the present system was realized in co-operation with the Centre for Energy Research, the operator of BRR. It is believed that by the introduction of this new on-line system the accident response capabilities of HAEA will be further enhanced and the BRR emergencies will be handled at the same professional level as potential emergencies at Paks NPP.