21.09.2018  THE BALAKOVO NPP INFORMATION AND PUBLIC RELATIONS ADMINISTRATION

This year’s largest emergency response exercise of Rosatom is completed at Balakovo NPP

During two days – 19 and 20 September, 2018 - a large-scale complex emergency response exercise (CERE) with the engagement of the Nuclear power plant emergency response team (NPPER), the Crisis centre of Rosenergoatom JSC, forces and means of the Ministry of Emergency Response, authorities and the department of the Ministry of Defense was carried out at Balakovo NPP.

The exercise that involved more than 1,000 specialists and 300 units of specialized equipment was watched by the representatives of federal and regional media, as well as the group of foreign observers from five countries – Belarus, Armenia, South Korea, France, and Sweden.

The participants of the exercise worked out more complicated scenario of the exercise that foreseen a number of unfavorable events – impossible for this area Magnitude 6 earthquake and unlikely failure of systems at all four power units. Also, emergency situation was designed at the full-scale simulators of the Training centre of the NPP.

During the first day of the CERE the practical skills in the delivery of actions on organization and fulfillment of works on emergency localization and recovery, as well as sheltering and evacuation of the NPP’s personnel were worked out.

The actions provided by the scenario of the second day of the exercise were carried out at 12 working area. At the working site of the NPP the personnel carried out the installation of the mobile emergency specialized equipment on electric energy supply recovery – the mobile diesel driven generators. Also, the participants of the CERE had a look at the latest Russian technical and specialized emergency response equipment, including robototronics and aerial devices for carrying out of the radiation surveillance.

The units of fire department No 23 that provides protection of Balakovo NPP showed the practical skills in extinction of different types of fire and first-aid dressing. Also, during the exercise the actions on NPP’s personnel sheltering and their evacuation were worked out. In Balakovo the work of the evacuation point was organized and the evacuation of the citizens to the place of destination was carried out. The Ministry of Defense forces worked out the practical events on decontamination of the equipment and sanitary treatment of the personnel of the NPP.

“Today, during the exercise we’ve seen a good work of different departments of Rosenergoatom, and technical support services”, one of the foreign observers, the Deputy Head of the Division of Atomic Energy Commission of France Patrick Fracas noted. “I was especially impressed with the orchestrated actions of the fire-fighting teams, the work of the crisis psychologists with the evacuated people, and how fast the energy supply was restored at the power unit No 1. We carry out emergency response exercises in France too, but they are not so large-scale. I was impressed with the seamless interaction of all services; I’ve seen how in real-time mode in vehicle the actions were coordinated with various crisis centres in Moscow. Information coordination is the strength of the exercise.”

Summing up the exercise, the head of the exercise – the Deputy Director General – Director on production and operation of NPP of Rosenergoatom JSC Andrey Dementiev stressed, “Balakovo NPP is the leader among the Russian nuclear power plants not only in the generation of the electric energy, but in all safety indicators including the emergency response readiness. And we’ve made sure of it one more time.”

Andrey Dementiev evaluated the exercise as good, noted the high level of training of all participants of the CERE and the excellent interaction of all services and departments.

The Balakovo NPP is an affiliate for the Rosenergoatom Concern OJSC. The plant is located on the left bank of the Saratov water reservoir, 10 kilometers to the north-east from the city of Balakovo, the Saratov Region. The NPP has four power block with modern VVER-1000 reactors (B-320 modification) boasting an electric capacity of 100 megawatts each. The first power block was launched operational in 1985, with the second, the third, and the fourth one being started in 1987, 1988, and 1993 respectively. The Balakovo NPP is one of the biggest and most contemporary power companies in Russia accounting for 25% of the electric power output in the Volga federal district, which caters to the population of the Volga region, the Central region, the Ural, and the Siberia. 


Back to the list