It usually takes about 60 months to build the first power-generating unit of a nuclear power plant since the first few cubic meters of concrete are poured. One can say that the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant is approaching its equator. What is going on at the construction site near Ostrovets? How many people will man the nuclear power plant? And how the safety of the installation will be evaluated?
Unchanged Budget and Timeframe
This year will mark several key events for the Belarusian nuclear power plant. Those are primarily related to the installation of equipment of the first power-generating unit — the reactor vessel, steam generators, and electric technology equipment. The installation of the turbine unit, in particular, its condensers, is in full swing. The installation of the reactor vessel itself will begin in about one month. Belarus' most powerful crane will be used for this operation. The 330-tonne piece of equipment was delivered to the construction site from the Russian city of Volgodonsk in late 2015. Four steam generators are already there. The pre-assembly division is busy assembling the dome part of the internal protective shell that will be installed at the first power-generating unit after the main equipment is put in its place.
The work proceeds on schedule. About 42,000 tonnes of reinforcing bars will be installed and about 235,000m3 of concrete will be poured. The manufacturing base, which is indispensable for building the nuclear power plant, has been created in the immediate proximity to the installation.
Work is in progress to commission the installation designed to feed power for proprietary needs of the nuclear power plant and the installation that will provide utility water to the power plant from the Viliya River in October. The efforts will allow the construction workers to begin startup and commissioning operations. Nuclear fuel is supposed to be delivered by late 2017. Director General of the state enterprise Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant Mikhail Filimonov specified that in 2018 the first power-generating unit will go through physical startup, power startup, and acceptance trials, which are scheduled for November 2018.
The Russian side is expected to provide the equivalent of about $445 million as financing by the end of the year. Transactions between the general contractor and subcontractors are done in Russian rubles. The project is financed smoothly, this is why no deviations from the construction schedule are expected.
One Man Per One Megawatt
About 5,000 people are now working at the construction site. The necessary housing infrastructure for them is being created. Twelve houses for construction workers and nuclear power plant specialists will be commissioned in Ostrovets by the end of the year. Seven houses of the kind were built in 2015. The construction of the first residential area in Ostrovets has been finished already. Work in the second residential area will be finished by the end of the year. The construction of the third residential area will begin in 2017. “Both construction workers and the nuclear power plant's personnel have been provided with housing. As the customer we are satisfied with the construction pace,” noted Mikhail Filimonov.
After the nuclear power plant is commissioned, it will need about 2,300 people. In other words, the formula “one person per 1MW” will be observed, said Vladimir Gorin, Deputy Chief Engineer for Personnel Training of the state enterprise Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant. Of them about 70 people will be foreign specialists, who have already worked at nuclear power plants. Virtually all the positions for such specialists have been filled already.
Getting trained at the education and training center of the Belarusian nuclear power plant is a key stage in the education of future nuclear power plant personnel. The center will train and improve skills of the entire workforce. Different categories of the personnel will have to spend a different number of hours in the education and training center every year. For instance, personnel of the central control room will have to spend 96 hours there. Apart from that, an emergency response exercise will be arranged every quarter of the year to keep people in shape. A total of eight shifts will be needed to operate the central control room. Five of them will be able to replace each other. Meanwhile, another one will be able to go through training courses, another one may enjoy vacation, and another one will be on standby.
“A shift will go through training courses in the composition used to man the central control room for the sake of improving cohesion in addition to theoretical training. It is an internationally recognized practice and we are not going to be an exception. Individual knowledge is important but being part of the team also matters,” explained Vladimir Gorin.
A psycho-physiological support lab has been created for the sake of evaluating qualities of potential nuclear power plant employees. The psychologists will also keep an eye on the people, who already man the nuclear power plant. “It is also an international practice that we are borrowing by cooperating with the IAEA and the World Association of Nuclear Operators,” said the Deputy Chief Engineer for Personnel Training.
Calm on Richter Scale
According to Mikhail Filimonov, the Belarusian nuclear power plant is designed to survive all kinds of external shocks. The design takes into account such hazards as hurricanes and tornados, floods, falling aircraft, seismic shocks, and other emergencies. “Annual surveys confirm the correct choice of the Ostrovets site. We work in good conditions indeed. There are no subsurface waters. No micro-seismic changes have been registered. Calculations indicate that there are no deviations from the design's parameters,” said the executive.
“Time and time again we make sure we did the right choice by selecting the Russian company with a three-plus nuclear power plant design AES-2006,” stressed the Director General of the state enterprise Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant.
Stress tests will be arranged to evaluate the soundness of the design. The agency to carry out the tests has not been named yet but it will not be a Belarusian company. The nuclear power plant will be tested against extreme conditions and all kinds of cataclysms, including earthquakes and floods, which are highly improbable in the region. The Fukushima scenario when the nuclear power plant had to deal with a most powerful earthquake followed by a tsunami will be modelled as well.
The IAEA will also evaluate the safety of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. Seven IAEA missions will visit the construction site before the first reactor goes operational. One of them will evaluate the state of affairs right before the nuclear power plant goes online.
