Russia’s Rosatom Group companies – RAOS Project Oy, the general supplier of the Hanhikivi-1 NPP and Rusatom Service JSC, the supplier of engineering and maintenance services at all stages of NPP lifetime including operating personnel training, have signed a contract for a basic training course on the VVER-1200 design for the staff of Fennovoima, the customer and future operator of the Hanhikivi-1 NPP, RAOS Project announced on 16 July .
Targeted at engineering and technical personnel, the training programme will be delivered by Rosatom Technical Academy’s instructors and experts at Fennovoima’s office in Finland. Given the COVID-19 situation in the world, the training can also be held online.
Under the contract, the basic course will contain a description of the nuclear power plant, its major equipment, systems and processes. The training includes six sessions to be held over three years. Duration of one session is 80 training hours. The total number of the personnel to undergo the basic course programme is 300 – 50 Fennovoima employees per session. The first training session is scheduled for December 2020.
The contract provides for mandatory pilot lessons and interviews with Rosatom Technical Academy’s instructors. Fennovoima approved of this practice in 2018. Preparations are underway to put together a contract for the main training programme for the operating personnel of the plant. Fennovoima has already pre-approved Rusatom Service and Rosatom Technical Academy as safety class 2 (Grade B) training providers for the Hanhikivi-1 Project.
Victoria Zhuravleva, Head of the NPP Personnel Training Department, RAOS Project Oy, said: “Over five years of work, we have gained considerable experience working with our customer Fennovoima, and we have also formulated the specifics of specialist training for the Finnish NPP and the required systematic approach. Based on this, the experts and instructors of the Rosatom Technical Academy develop training materials, visual and interactive manuals, and then conduct training sessions. It requires not only knowledge of the English language, technological expertise and industrial experience, but also deep knowledge by instructors of various teaching methods for adults – specialists with higher education. At the end of the course, an assessment of training will be given on a variety of parameters. For objectivity, all participants will be assessed – Fennovoima, RAOS Project Oy, Rusatom Service and the Rosatom Technical Academy, and we will evaluate independently of each other. A summary report of all four participants will show the result of the joint work.”
Kim Stolhandske, Head of Operational Training, Fennovoima Oy, said: “One of the most important factors affecting the successful and safe commissioning of a power plant is the competent organisation that commissioned the plant. It is extremely important for us to ensure the achievement of operational readiness in advance, even before the fuel is loaded. To this end, we will develop our organisational competency with the help of a technical training programme implemented by the NPP supplier – RAOS Project. The training programme begins with a basic course now, when we are still at the licensing stage. Its goal is to provide all Fennovoima employees with fundamental knowledge about nuclear power plants. As a next step, we began preparatory work and cooperation with RAOS Project to develop special training courses for Fennovoima personnel responsible for operation, maintenance and technical support. Special courses will form the bulk of staff training and will continue even in the early stages of the commissioning.”
The Hanhikivi-1 project provides for the construction in Pyhajoki of a single-unit nuclear power plant based a Russian-design VVER-1200 generation 3+ reactor. The project is currently at the stage of licensing and preparatory work is underway at the NPP construction site. A construction licence is expected in 2021. RAOS Project Oy is the general supplier under the EPC contract signed with Fennovoima on in 2013. RAOS Project, a 100% subsidiary of REIN JSC (part of Rosatom), was established in Finland in 2015 to implement the project.
Photo: Proposed Hanhikivi nuclear power plant (Credit: Fennovoima)
