This time the Kalinin NPP in Udomlya, Tver oblast, was honored. The visit of 20 ambassadors and permanent representatives can be considered a preparation for the IAEA Conference “Nuclear Power in the 21st Century” which will be held in Saint-Petersburg in summer 2013, as said Vladimir Voronkov, the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation in Vienna.
The choice of the conference host country is an indicator of great achievements of such state in this area. The atomic scientists fulfilled the task to demonstrate the newest technologies. The Kalinin NPP visit program included a meeting and technical tours of the plant industrial site, training center and Public Information Сenter. Vladimir Asmolov, First Deputy Director General of Rosenergoatom and President of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO), made the presentation, speaking about the current condition of the Russian nuclear power industry. The main topics were safety systems and additional equipment supplied to the Russian plants within the framework of the special measures based on analyses of the events in Japan.
“At the national level we did a thorough analysis of the events at Fukushima-Daiichi NPP. And checks of the in-depth protection efficiency were carried out at each of the Russian NPPs. We considered potential external events which are typical of each plant host region, and we tried to capture various combinations of external events, even most unthinkable. As a result a program of short-term and long-term actions was developed. By date, all short-term measures in this area have been completed. All necessary equipment for NPPs was purchased, delivered and put in operation. These are mobile diesel generators, diesel pumps, motor-driven pumps; a total of 182 equipment items totaling about $500 million,” Vladimir Asmolov said.
The guests, such as the ambassador of Jordan, were more than in other things interested in the questions of NPPs physical protection and personnel training. Let us remind the readers, that Rosatom is currently taking part in the tender for construction of the Jordan’r first NPP, its main rival being ATMEA, French-Japanese Consortium. Vladimir Asmolov assured the ambassador of Jordan that the physical protection at Russian NPPs is organized on the highest level, which the guests had a chance to see with their own eyes.
Extra Safety
The technical tour of the Kalinin NPP started from the examination of the equipment supplied to the Kalinin NPP in the framework of implementation of post-Fukushima measures. On the second day of the conference the guests were taken to the power unit 4 site to demonstrate the work of the mobile diesel-generator station and pump unit. The equipment was specially purchased for every Russian plant after the events of Fukushima in order to serve as additional protection.
“Unit 4 was the first one where additional measures to manage severe beyond design basis accidents were implemented as project standard solutions,” Kalinin Plant Manager Mikhail Knyshev said. “The entire set of the additional machinery was purchased and is in orderly, operation-ready state. Although we have sufficient design means for process control and rendering the reactor safe, we undertake the measures which are extremely important for safety by this demonstrating the conservative approach and pragmatism,” he said.
High Appreciation
The next visiting point was the unit control desk, where the ambassadors got acquainted with the work of the NPP operators and were explained the readings on the control panel. At the end of the conference the training center for NPP operators was visited. The foreign guests were offered to model a situation when a reactor should be shut down immediately. As regards the visit outcomes, the guests highly appraised the level of safety of the Russian NPPs, as well as professionalism of specialists working in the industry and their openness. The permanent representatives think that the experience in carrying out “post-Fukushima” measures at the Russian NPPs was especially useful for them.
Sharing his impressions, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the UAE to International Organizations in Vienna Hamad Ali Alkabi said: “It certainly was very interesting to study the work of the Russian experts, who, I note, are constantly monitoring the improvement in the provision of nuclear safety.” He underlined that Russia abides by its obligations in respect of safety and is working closely on this with the global nuclear community.
