24.10.2023
THE SMOLENSK NPP INFORMATION AND PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT
The international insurance inspection confirmed the high level of safety of the Smolensk NPP
On October 16-20, 2023, the International Insurance Inspectorate (IIA) worked at the Smolensk NPP. It included experts from the Russian Nuclear Insurance Pool, the Russian National Reinsurance Company, the Atomic Insurance Broker, the SOGAZ Group, and specialized services of Rosenergoatom.
Experts assessed the condition of technological systems and equipment, buildings and structures, operation and repair procedures, considered radiation safety, fire protection, power supply, radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel management. We reviewed documents, conducted walk-throughs, and interviewed personnel using a methodology similar to that used by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the World Association of Nuclear Operators.
We came to the conclusion that ensuring the safety and culture of production at the nuclear power plant is at a decent level. “We communicated in a formal and informal setting, saw the teamwork of managers and staff, openness, high professionalism and cohesion of the team, which is passionate about its business,” emphasized Mikhail Zagvozkin, inspection coordinator from the Russian Nuclear Insurance Pool. “Insurers are ready to participate in insuring the risks of nuclear energy because here the level of safety and duplication of all safety systems is many times higher than in any other industries.”
At the final meeting, experts named 36 strengths in the work of the Smolensk NPP. This, for example, is the successful start of work on managing the resource characteristics of graphite masonry, good organization of maintenance and repair, emergency planning and response, improved monitoring, the presence of an industrial video monitoring system on control panels, serious investments in the modernization of equipment, the introduction of new security systems, staff development.
“Any inspection gives you the opportunity, first of all, to look at your activities from the outside,” said Alexey Leshchenko, chief engineer of the Smolensk NPP. – Independent insurance inspection experts have extensive professional experience working at various sites, including foreign ones. From them, we received not only high praise, but also valuable recommendations, and this is an area for further development.”
For reference:
Rosenergoatom has one of the largest property complexes, and the entire insurance market of the country is involved in its insurance. International inspections are part of the insurance process and are already an established practice that has shown its effectiveness. Every five years, experts visit all nuclear power plants to personally verify the reliability of energy facilities. This was the fourth such inspection at the Smolensk station.
The Smolensk NPP is the largest enterprise in the fuel and energy complex of the Smolensk region, the city-forming enterprise of Desnogorsk. The nuclear power plant is located 150 km from Smolensk. The nuclear power plant operates three power units with uranium-graphite channel reactors RBMK-1000 of the second and third generation. In terms of reliability and safety, they are not inferior to any of the reactors operating in the world. The Smolensk NPP is one of the key nodes in the country's Unified Energy System and is connected to it by six high-voltage power lines with voltages of 330, 500 and 750 kV. Annual electricity production is over 20 billion kWh, a seventh of the total output of Russian nuclear power plants, about 8% in the Central region and more than 80% of the electricity produced in the Smolensk region. In 2022, Smolensk NPP received a license from Rostechnadzor for an additional 5-year operating life of power unit No. 1 (until 2027).
Russia continues to provide stable energy security. Energy is the basis for the progressive socio-economic development of the country, supplying industry and citizens. Using the example of the Smolensk NPP, the Electric Power Division of the State Corporation Rosatom demonstrates that nuclear energy is a high-tech industry that actively introduces innovative technologies, works to increase the competitiveness of the national economy, develop the country’s technological sovereignty, and improve the quality of life in the regions where it operates.
Experts assessed the condition of technological systems and equipment, buildings and structures, operation and repair procedures, considered radiation safety, fire protection, power supply, radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel management. We reviewed documents, conducted walk-throughs, and interviewed personnel using a methodology similar to that used by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the World Association of Nuclear Operators.
We came to the conclusion that ensuring the safety and culture of production at the nuclear power plant is at a decent level. “We communicated in a formal and informal setting, saw the teamwork of managers and staff, openness, high professionalism and cohesion of the team, which is passionate about its business,” emphasized Mikhail Zagvozkin, inspection coordinator from the Russian Nuclear Insurance Pool. “Insurers are ready to participate in insuring the risks of nuclear energy because here the level of safety and duplication of all safety systems is many times higher than in any other industries.”
At the final meeting, experts named 36 strengths in the work of the Smolensk NPP. This, for example, is the successful start of work on managing the resource characteristics of graphite masonry, good organization of maintenance and repair, emergency planning and response, improved monitoring, the presence of an industrial video monitoring system on control panels, serious investments in the modernization of equipment, the introduction of new security systems, staff development.
“Any inspection gives you the opportunity, first of all, to look at your activities from the outside,” said Alexey Leshchenko, chief engineer of the Smolensk NPP. – Independent insurance inspection experts have extensive professional experience working at various sites, including foreign ones. From them, we received not only high praise, but also valuable recommendations, and this is an area for further development.”
For reference:
Rosenergoatom has one of the largest property complexes, and the entire insurance market of the country is involved in its insurance. International inspections are part of the insurance process and are already an established practice that has shown its effectiveness. Every five years, experts visit all nuclear power plants to personally verify the reliability of energy facilities. This was the fourth such inspection at the Smolensk station.
The Smolensk NPP is the largest enterprise in the fuel and energy complex of the Smolensk region, the city-forming enterprise of Desnogorsk. The nuclear power plant is located 150 km from Smolensk. The nuclear power plant operates three power units with uranium-graphite channel reactors RBMK-1000 of the second and third generation. In terms of reliability and safety, they are not inferior to any of the reactors operating in the world. The Smolensk NPP is one of the key nodes in the country's Unified Energy System and is connected to it by six high-voltage power lines with voltages of 330, 500 and 750 kV. Annual electricity production is over 20 billion kWh, a seventh of the total output of Russian nuclear power plants, about 8% in the Central region and more than 80% of the electricity produced in the Smolensk region. In 2022, Smolensk NPP received a license from Rostechnadzor for an additional 5-year operating life of power unit No. 1 (until 2027).
Russia continues to provide stable energy security. Energy is the basis for the progressive socio-economic development of the country, supplying industry and citizens. Using the example of the Smolensk NPP, the Electric Power Division of the State Corporation Rosatom demonstrates that nuclear energy is a high-tech industry that actively introduces innovative technologies, works to increase the competitiveness of the national economy, develop the country’s technological sovereignty, and improve the quality of life in the regions where it operates.
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