IAEA team reviews Kalinin safety
01 December 2021
Russia's Kalinin nuclear power plant shows a commitment to safety, said a team assembled by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which took some new practices away to share with the global industry.
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The Kalinin nuclear power plant, 330 kilometres north of Moscow (Image: Rosenergoatom)
"We consider international peer reviews to be an important element in improving nuclear safety," said Victor Ignatov, Director of the Kalinin Plant. "Exchanging best practices and learning from other plants is highly valuable for all of us in the nuclear industry."
The power plant comprises four VVER-1000 units that started up in 1984, 1986, 2004 and 2011. It was visited for 18 days by the ten-member Operational Safety Review Team (OSART), made up of experts from the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Slovakia, South Africa, Sweden, the UK, the USA and the IAEA.
The review covered the areas of leadership and management for safety, training and qualification, operations, maintenance, technical support, operating experience, radiation protection, chemistry, and accident management. Team leader Ronan Cavellec of the IAEA said, "The OSART team witnessed a strong commitment to safety by plant management and staff."
Two good practices at Kalinin were highlighted by the IAEA: Rosenergoatom "strengthens stress management and decision-making skills of staff by involving two psychologists during severe accident management exercises"; it also "promotes safety culture among all personnel by encouraging staff to act as 'safety culture ambassadors' who proactively communicate and seek feedback on safety related topics."
The plant should also make some improvements, the IAEA said. The team noted that the plant's operating experience programme should enhance the identification of root causes of events and the verification of the effectiveness of corrective actions to prevent their recurrence. It should consider improving the preventative maintenance arrangements for important non-safety equipment. The plant should also consider enhancing its practices for equipment labelling.
"The overall outcomes and areas for further development from this OSART review will be included in the continuous improvement programme of the Kalinin power plant operations," said Ignatov.
The OSART team provided a draft mission report to Ignatov. The Rosenergoatom plant management will have the opportunity to make factual comments on the draft. These will be reviewed by the IAEA and the final report will be submitted to the Russian government within three months.
Researched and written by World Nuclear News