“We build a lot of NPPs abroad, the construction term is 10 years – says the head of Rosatom Sergey Kiriyenko. – The station itself will work no less than 60 years, so a long-term strategic partnership is built for about a 100 years ahead and it has to be conducted by professionals”.
One of the directions of work with foreign specialists is teaching foreign students in Russia. NRNU MEPhI (Russia’s basic institution of higher education for atomic industry, including 11 higher educational institutions and 9 intermediate vocational education institutions situated in 20 cities and 14 constituent units of the RF) today gives education to more than 400 foreign students from Vietnam, Turkey, Jordan, Mongolia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and other countries-recipients of Russian peaceful atom technologies and Corporation’s strategic partners.
How to become and atomist in Russia
The program for training of Turkish specialists is being implemented in accordance with Intergovernmental Agreement, signed by Turkey and the RF. This year as many as 4500 Turkish citizens handed in their papers, 100 of them will become students. Thus there are 45 people for each place. Among the applicants there are the first, second, third and fourth years’ students of departments of physics or mathematics of Turkish Universities.
Besides there started the preparation to realization of the plan to transfer atomic education to Turkey. Rauf Kasumov, Deputy General Director of the Akkuyu NPP JSC noticed it was quite complicated to teach thousands of specialists needed in Turkey in the sphere of nuclear power in Russia. Thus part of the program is planned to be implied on the Turkish territory. “This can be done on the basis of one of our technical institutions. Now we are waiting for options given by Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey, of what universities we can use. Let’s say, students entering the next year could do a preparatory training course here in Turkey. Besides we are working on an opportunity to do not only preparatory training in Turkey, but also theoretical disciplines within the I and II year studying program. While theoretical studies of the III and IV years will take place in Russia, followed by a two-years practice at Russian working NPPs. Certainly it won’t be easy to transfer nuclear power education to Turkey, since the two countries’ systems are very different and at the first stage we’ll have to adapt them to one another, which is a great work,” – said R. Kasumov.
Adopting practices
Rosatom doesn’t just train the newcomers. It also organizes various training events for experienced personnel from abroad – for those who want to obtain additional knowledge and adopt practices of their Russian colleagues. In Turkey, where Rosatom is currently building the Akkuyu NPP on BOO-basis, training seminars for constructors and contractor organizations representatives, willing to take part in the project implementation, are conducted regularly. Thus on the recent seminar, organized by Rosatom’s Industry Expertise Center for Capital Projects (OCKS) together with General Contractor for the Akkuyu NPP construction – NIAEP-Atomstroyexport Joint Company, more than 20 leading construction companies of Turkey took part. Stanislav Simeev, head of Investment Value Objects Department, opening the seminar, gave potential contractors some details of how Russian project construction valuation will be adapted to Turkish conditions on the whole and to the Akkuyu site in particular. “Since the Akkuyu NPP is being constructed on Russian project, all contractors willing to take part in construction of the first NPP in Turkey have to be highly qualified in accordance with Russian standards. Besides they’ll have to provide expense and profit transparency, so that OCKS, being the body powered by the State Corporation to perform control and regulatory work in the nuclear objects construction sphere, can see all the readings ”, – he explained.
