Belarusian nuclear power plant staffed well

MINSK, 25 September (BelTA) – The first unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant has virtually all the staff it needs. The second unit has 50% of the required manpower, BelTA learned from Alexander Yerin, Deputy Head of the Education and Training Center of the state enterprise Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant, during the Nuclear Technologies Day hosted by the Belarusian State University on 25 September.

Alexander Yerin said: “The first unit is virtually fully staffed. We have only some blue-collar positions to fill. Primarily fitters and repair technicians, which take at most three months to train. The second unit is partially staffed. I think it has 50% of the staff it needs. We will have all the operators to run the second unit in 2019. Repair personnel will be added.”

At present the Belarusian nuclear power plant employs 1,353 people, including some 900 operating personnel. Eight shifts have been trained to man the control room of the first unit. They will have to pass the final exams by the end of October. These people will have to obtain permissions from the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry (Gosatomnadzor) to do work relating to nuclear energy. Once their training is complete, career enhancement courses will be arranged – 96 hours every year, including 60 hours for learning to operate a full-scale simulator in practice. Rosatom representatives will help Belarusian specialists when the unit will have to go online in 2019.

According to Alexander Yerin, the Belarusian nuclear power plant is not afraid of the personnel leaving to work at other nuclear industry installations. “We don’t see any personnel drain. The salaries are rather high. Accommodation is provided. Transportation to reach the nuclear power plant is available. Social benefits [for the Belarusian nuclear power plant personnel] are offered,” said the official.

The main purpose of the Nuclear Technologies Day hosted by the Belarusian State University on 25 September is to popularize modern nuclear technologies and allow future nuclear power plant specialists to talk to the industry’s experts. Students from the Belarusian State University, the Belarusian National Technical University, and the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics are taking part in the event. Representatives of the Nuclear Energy Department of the Belarusian Energy Ministry, the state enterprise Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant, the Nuclear Physics and Technologies Department of the Russian nuclear research university MEPhI, the Radiation Medicine and Ecology Chair of the Belarusian State Medical University, and other organizations are expected to present reports before the future nuclear industry specialists.

The Nuclear Technologies Day has been organized by the Russian state nuclear industry corporation Rosatom with assistance of the Energy Ministry, the Belarusian State University, and the Minsk-based Nuclear Energy Information Center.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant is being built using the Russian standard Generation III+ design AES-2006 near Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast. The first power-generating unit is scheduled for commissioning in 2019, with the second one to go online in 2020. The first batch of nuclear fuel is supposed to be delivered to the nuclear power plant till the end of 2018.