Safety as priority
The World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) completed its mission to Leningrad NPP where Janos Turanski, a Paks NPP representative, spoke to local staff about engineering projects and modification procedures at the Hungarian nuclear station.
He explained key steps followed at Paks to modify the nuclear plant engineering equipment. According to Janos Turanski, it could take up to a year (or more if the project is large) to have the project developed and approved in Hungary. He is sure that “safety requires much analytical effort.”
Leningrad NPP engineers spoke about the Russian approach to the engineering design process. They stressed that specific attention is paid to safety when designing equipment configurations. “Safety of a nuclear power plant is our top priority,” engineers from Leningrad NPP explained their approach.
“It is no secret that Russian nuclear safety rules and regulations are stricter than those of the IAEA. Anything which is not expressly set out in the regulations is subject to the entire set of approvals, regardless of whether modifications are temporary. No modification of the nuclear plant equipment, whether temporary or not, should put safety at risk,” stressed Alexei Makushin from the Leningrad NPP Engineering Service.
Valery Zhemchugov, Deputy Chief Engineer for Engineering Support at Leningrad NPP, says, “The WANO peer audit helped us identify a number of improvement areas. We invited our colleagues from other nuclear stations to review fundamental, functional and operating issues and share experience. We will adopt their best practices and improve them – this is a key principle of the WANO.”
In accord with nature
In the meantime, Rosatom’s headquarters in Moscow hosted the Impressions from the Danube to the Chukotka Peninsula, an exhibition of the Hungarian photographer Vince Balint. As part of the joint project initiated by Rosenergoatom and Paks NPP (Hungary), the famous nature photographer visited sites of all the ten nuclear plants operated in Russia to depict the Russian nature in its splendor and richness.
Unique shots taken across the vast Russian territories by the Hungarian artist were presented at the exhibition and included into the same name photo album.
The pictures illustrate clearly that Russian nuclear power plants are absolutely safe for the natural integrity and biodiversity. “I am not an environmentalist; I just love the nature and want to show in my pictures how beautiful it is, especially around nuclear stations. Many think that nuclear plants damage the environment. On the contrary, NPP sites are almost ideal for the development and protection of animal and plant species. My pictures are the best proofs. They show that plants and animals, many of which endangered, can perfectly get along with huge nuclear facilities operating for dozens of years,” Vince Balint shared his impressions about the project.
For your reference: the decision to build two new units at Paks NPP was made by the Hungarian Government in 2009. The bidding process was initially scheduled for 2011. The French Areva and the US Westinghouse companies were among the bidders, along with Rosatom. However, the tender was postponed till December 2014 and subsequently canceled as Hungary selected Rosatom as a contractor and an exclusive supplier of nuclear fuel. In December 2014, the two countries signed a contract for the construction of Unit 5 and Unit 6 based on the Russian designed VVER-1200 reactors. Rosatom CEO Sergei Kirienko said then that the number of units could be increased as the project progressed.
