A team of IAEA experts confirmed the commitment of Rosenergoatom JSC (a part of the Rosatom Electric Power Division) to safety principles. The experts also pointed out the Company’s several good practices, which can benefit the entire global nuclear community.
It is to be recalled that on 11-27 November, 2018, Rosenergoatom first hosted the OSART (Operating Safety Review Team)* mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). And today, on 27 November, 2018, the results of the 17-day mission have been summed up.
At a press conference devoted to the results, the head of the IAEA expert team, Peter Tarren, noted, “From the IAEA point of view, this mission has been very successful. Experts have concluded that everything in Rosenergoatom works very well. Each organization may strive for improvement, but what I see here in Rosenergoatom is a real commitment to safety principles. I’d like to emphasize that the practices used by the JSC that we have found are very good; they will be useful to the international community and will increase nuclear safety not only at a country level, but also on a global scale: two of them are in the field of communications, and one is in the field of procurement.”
The OSART mission team included 12 experts and 2 observers from Germany, China, Canada, Republic of South Africa, Slovenia, Great Britain, France, Japan, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Iran. The JSC and its three branches – Balakovo, Kola and Smolensk NPPs – were checked in the following 9 areas: corporate management, independent nuclear supervision, human resources, communications, maintenance and repair, technical support, operational experience, procurement, accident management and emergency response readiness.
The experts interviewed the personnel of the central office and the plants, observed the meetings at the Company's central office and at the plants, analysed documentation related to specific assessment directions, and also studied the methods and content of communication with parties involved. At the same time, they did NOT evaluate Rosenergoatom for compliance with the regulatory requirements or the safety of a particular NPP, and did not compare the operational safety of Rosenergoatom plants with other nuclear power plants abroad.
Particular attention was paid to the effectiveness the security policy applied, the personnel willingness and ability to work, methods of support, motivation and control used by management, as well as personnel behavior, condition of NPP facilities and structures.
In the course of the work, the experts also identified six areas where further improvements are possible. They include corporate governance, independent nuclear supervision, repairs, operating experience, emergency preparedness and procurement.
“The OSART mission at Rosenergoatom has become not only another step towards improving our work in various areas, but also a unique opportunity for the first time to undergo an independent assessment of the entire company by the IAEA”, Rosenergoatom JSC Director General Andrey Petrov said. “Before this, there were only two OSART corporate missions conducted in the world, one in CEZ, the Czech nuclear operating organization, and the other one in EDF in France. The implementation of the suggestions made by the OSART team will help us further improve the level of NPP operational safety, and the identified good practices will contribute to improving the level of nuclear safety around the world.”
It is worth noting that in addition to the three best practices in all 9 areas, 32 areas of good work were also identified.
The team submitted the draft report to the Rosenergoatom management, which will send its comments on the draft report to the IAEA. The final report will be sent to the Government of the Russian Federation approximately within three months. The OSART mission reports are publicly available.
For reference:
The OSART mission is the oldest type of IAEA missions, recognized worldwide as a powerful tool for independent assessment of the operational safety of nuclear power plants. It aims to further develop and improve the safety of nuclear power plants through the dissemination of best practices. It is organised by the IAEA – an intergovernmental organization of the UN, which has been developing safety standards in the field of atomic energy and ensuring its application to any type of activity for several decades now.
The OSART mission in Rosenergoatom was held at the invitation of the Russian Federation Government and Rosatom State Corporation. The purpose of the corporate mission is together with IAEA experts to find areas in the operating company for further improvement in the field of nuclear safety. In Russia, Leningrad, Balakovo, Rostov, Smolensk, Kola and Novovoronezh NPPs have already had the experience of hosting the mission.
Rosenergoatom JSC is a leading enterprise of the largest Electric Power Division of Rosatom State Corporation. The JSC is the largest generating company in Russia and the second largest in the world in terms of nuclear generating capacity. It includes all 10 Russian nuclear power plants that have the status of branches, as well as enterprises providing for the activities of the generating company. In total, these 10 NPPs have 35 power units with a total installed capacity of 30 GW. Currently, Russian NPPs produce about 19% of the total electric energy generated in the country.