On December, 2018, the pre-launch partnership verification was completed at the Novovoronezh NPP to check if the 7th power block (power block No.2 at the Novovoronezh NPP-2) is fully ready for its initial physical start-up. The verification was held by a team from the Moscow office of the WANO* (WANO-MO) that encompassed fourteen experts from eight countries – Ukraine, Republic of Korea, France, Belarus, Slovakia, Bulgaria, the USA and Russia.

The main goal of this visit was to verify if the 7th power block of the Novovoronezh NPP is fully ready for its physical start-up, to maximize its operational efficiency and reliability, and to exchange data on the global best practices.

Since recently, global experts have been invited to the nuclear power blocks at the pre-launch stage. Such partnership verifications are a good way to implement the best operational practices early in the process of pre-launch activities.

Between December 10th and 21st, when the commission was working at the Novovoronezh NPP, the experts have checked 13 aspects of the plant’s operations, chemistry, nuclear safety, and maintenance being among them.

The WANO representatives have noted the top-notch level of the company’s nuclear safety culture. As they stated, the ‘cooperative and respectful environment’ is one of the strongest sides of the Novovoronezh NPP’s staff, and ‘nuclear safety’ is their top priority.

‘My independent evaluation confirms that they worked effectively and as a team. They have attained their goals. The Novovoronezh NPP has fully met the challenging international commitments it has taken upon itself. We have prepared several recommendations that were understood and accepted by the Novovoronezh NPP’s team following a detailed discussion. Launching the 7th power block is a difficult assignment, but we are confident that this task will be fulfilled and will be a major invent for the global nuclear community’, Anatoliy Kirichenko, the First Deputy Director of the WANO-MO, said at the final meeting.

In the next two months following the completion of the pre-launch partnership verification, the Novovoronezh NPP will have to complete a self-evaluation and to elaborate an action plan. In the meantime, the outcomes of the verification will be summed up in the final report containing particular recommendations on how to improve the plant’s operation.

The WANO team will pay a follow-up visit in due-course before the power block No.2 of the Novovoronezh NPP-2 (the 7th power block of the Novovoronezh NPP) comes to the minimum controllable power level. The experts will evaluate the efficiency of the measures taken during the next visit.