We hear a lot about power plants which will be built in the future and which should be much safer than the current ones. What possibilities of development would achieve this?
If, in the next 15-20 years, a new power plant is to be designed in Hungary, it will definitely be a so-called third generation unit (probably 3+). The power plants which the other countries are now building are of this third generation, as the next one, the fourth generation will unlikely be ready for mass production in the near future. Considering the development of power plants, we can see that the first unit made for public electricity production was installed in 1954. This first generation of power plants was essentially the result of the transformation of reactors produced for the military to provide electricity for the public; these were built by the mid 1970s. The second generation reactors were substantially safer and more modern. These were built by the mid 1990s. The establishment in Paks along with 90 per cent of the currently operating reactors are of the second generation type. The next, third generation reactor’s first unit was installed in Japan in 1998 and this type of
