From June 19 to June 23, the St. Petersburg branch of the Rosatom Technical Academy hosted the IAEA Interregional Training Course on the Preparedness of the Owner/Operator Organization for Construction and Operation. 18 representatives from 10 countries (Armenia, Bangladesh, Hungary, Ghana, Egypt, Jordan, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan) participated in the event.
The course programme was aimed at specialists from countries embarking on nuclear power programmes, and focused on the owner/operator organization’s roles and responsibilities in planning for construction and overseeing the EPC contractor, as well as preparing the organization for operation.
Presentations by Russian and international experts, as well as practical and group work, were organized as part of the training course. Moreover, participants had a technical tour to the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant, where they visited a turbine hall and a training center with a full-scale simulator, which is a complete analogue of the unit control room at the power unit.
The EUTC-1 Section Head of the Department of Technical Cooperation of the IAEA, Mr. Jing Zhang, and the Director of the Center for International Cooperation of the Rosatom Technical Academy, Mr. Viktor Mazepov, addressed the participants with welcoming remarks. In their speeches, they noted the positive impact of nuclear power plants on achieving sustainable development goals, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and the need to develop nuclear energy worldwide.
International experts from China, the Republic of Korea, and IAEA specialists spoke about the role and responsibility of the owner/operator, its activities at the stages of the NPP’s life cycle, and also conducted group work.
The Director of the Scientific Research Center "Prognoz" Mr. Eduard Volkov, gave a lecture on the safety culture. Mr. Dmitry Gudemenko, Deputy Director of the Department for the Management of Foreign Projects of the Rosenergoatom branch office for the implementation of capital projects, described the Russian practice of the operating organization at the stage of the NPP’s commissioning. Mr. Anatoly Chukharev, Director of the Department of International Business and Development of Rosenergoatom, spoke about the assistance provided to new units by representatives of the working group of the World Association of Nuclear Operators.
Particular attention was paid to the issues of human resource development and knowledge transfer. Therefore, Mr. Denis Podolyakin, Head of the Personnel Training Department of the NPP El-Dabaa, and Mr. Fedor Karmanov, Chief Expert on International Activities of Rosatom Tech, delivered lectures on the competencies of NPP personnel and the specifics of the development of training programs.
At the end of the course, the participants presented the results of the group work and expressed a desire to participate in future programmes. Additionally, all participants noted that the knowledge gained will be useful in their future work.
For reference:
Russia continues its international cooperation, strengthening and developing ties with countries embarking on nuclear power programmes. The expansion of the use of nuclear energy and technology creates an ever-growing need worldwide for highly qualified specialists in the field of nuclear energy with technical and managerial skills.
One of the key organizations for the development of a sustainable nuclear energy program and the safe operation of NPPs is the owner/operator organization. Training events on the preparedness of owner/operator oganization were held in 2018 and 2019 as part of the extra-budgetary contribution of the Russian Federation for the implementation of the IAEA Technical Cooperation projects for the development of the nuclear infrastructure in newcomer countries.
