Nuclear Law Conference at the University of Pécs
The Faculty of Law, University of Pécs held the I. Nuclear Law Conference in Pécs on 13 June in the prestigious Dr. Halasy-Nagy Hall. Dr. Adrián Fábián, the dean of the Faculty of Law greeted the presenters and the participants. Dr. Gyula Zeller vice-rector said that “the Faculty of Law has always been known for its pioneer work, and its launching of a nuclear law education in Pécs proves that well.”
János Süli, minister without portfolio responsible for designing, building and commissioning two new blocks of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant emphasized what a huge task this is also from a legal point of view, since six thousand licences are necessary for the process of its completion. “Those, who we manage to ‘infect’ with nuclear law, will always have a secure livelihood, therefore I wish that as many people as possible familiarize themselves with this profession.”
Dr. Alexander I. Ageev, Head of department, professor of the National Research Nuclear University, Moscow, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences spoke about the digital transition of the nuclear industry in legal and educational respects. He said that the Paks II. project has huge potential and will generate great economic impact, as well as technological and social activities. Then, his colleague, Dr. Alexander V. Putilov continued and covered the topic of sustainable development in the nuclear energy sector. He introduced the history of Hungarian nuclear energy briefly, followed by his words on the future prospects. “Everybody wants affordable, reliable, sustainable energy – said professor Putilov, - however, these megaprojects are vulnerable to exceptional events, with mega risks.” That is the reason why scientific centres, and universities that foster research and development, are of great importance.
After Dr. Iván Szabó lawyer discussed the questions of water law considering the Paks II. NPP, the dean of the Faculty of Law, Dr. Adrián Fábián said: “Today’s conference is very important, because it serves as an introduction of the two new study programmes on nuclear law. The Paks expansion is a giant project involving numerous legal questions. I hope, that it will be the University of Pécs to educate the specialized experts needed, including legal and other fields.”
Dr. Lajos Tamás, honorary professor reviewed the preparation process of the new study programmes, their content and advantages. He informed the audience that unfortunately, in the framework of the standard legal education, there is no time left for teaching special areas of law in detail. “We are launching the nuclear law and legal counsel study programmes with the hope that there will be many people interested in them. There will be 29 professionals involved in education, 15 university professors and 14 from outside of the university. The former will teach the theoretical basics and the latter will transfer their practical knowledge of the field” – said professor Tamás, the man who the idea of the nuclear law study programme originally comes from. The education is going to take place mostly in Pécs, and some of the lessons are going to be held in Paks. The Nuclear Law Conference was the first of hopefully many similar discussions. The participants of the conference could get an overview of the current nuclear law of Hungary and other countries, and they were informed about the study programmes offered by the University of Pécs in this area.
The two new study programmes are to be taught in Hungarian language, one of them is a special law degree programme (4 semesters) and the other recently launched programme is a specialist advisor on nuclear law (4 semesters), the latter does not recquire a law degree as a prerequisite. They both start in September 2018.
The original article in Hungarian »
Mariann TÓTH