The seminar to prepare for the OSART mission to the Leningrad NPP in 2017 was organized by the IAEA and Rosenergoatom (an operator of Russian nuclear power plants) as part of the Russian NPP Operating Safety Improvement Program. The Leningrad nuclear station was included into the project span after the OSART effort was a success at Smolensk, Kola and Novovoronezh NPPs.

Safety knowledge and skills of the local personnel was ranked high by the IAEA representatives. The IAEA operating safety expert Alexei Polyakov who took part in the seminar noted that the Leningrad NPP staff “addressed all operating safety issues with great care and attention to detail.” “We have worked together during nuclear power plant inspections all over the world. I very much appreciate knowledge and expertise of Leningrad NPP experts,” Polyakov said.

Work is going full tilt at the Leningrad NPP to prepare for the OSART mission. The local staff has completed the compliance self-assessment, developed the action plan and time schedules, and appointed responsible employees. “The OSART program covers ten standard review areas,” said Alexei Tararin who is in charge of the OSART coordination center at the nuclear power plant. “We hold seminars on each area to analyze IAEA safety standards and best global practices in the nuclear power industry and benchmark them against Russian regulatory requirements.”

In early February, 70 students and teachers of the International Winter School on Nuclear Power made a technical tour to the construction site at Leningrad NPP. The group included students from the Czech Technical University in Prague, Technical Universities of Milan and Turin, and Bangladesh University.

The International Winter School on Nuclear Power was opened at Peter the Great Polytechnic University in St. Petersburg earlier this year and is supported by Rosatom as a promising educational project of global nuclear power development. The school focuses on international students intending to work and conduct research in the nuclear energy industry. The priority of the project is to demonstrate key targets of the industry development, assist in choosing the area of research and establish business contacts. According to the project participants, the school gives an excellent opportunity to visit a real nuclear power plant. Visitors to the Leningrad NPP were shown the first unit in operation and a new reactor under construction.