Energiaklub accuses nuclear authority of Chernobil-like communication

Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority’s communication recalls the memories of Chernobil – said András Perger, project manager of Energiaklub Climate Policy Institute. The organization which aims to create awareness and provide independent information about energy policies had been suing the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority in many cases. They requested the permission documents about the one-year-later reboot of Paks nuclear power plant after its 2003 breakdown. ‘Paks did some strange and dangerous things during the repairs and the reboot. The public needs the proper information about facts and risks’, Perger said in our interview.

It took at least six years to win their suit about the requested documents, but in an other case about the waste disposal of the 2003 breakdown they obtained the information in only one year. Perger claims that the information they require is always in general interest and has nothing to do with trade secrets or national security. As he said the Hungarian authorities are communicating just like the soviets did after Chernobil. When iodine isotopes leaked for months from a medicine factory which belongs to the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest last year, first the Authority denied the accusations and their admission due to rising international pressure contained many mystifications and relativizations too.