On September 26, 2018, the commission of the Rostekhnadzor’s North-European cross-regional area administration of overseeing nuclear and radiation safety together with their colleagues from the Upper-Don administration has completed the on-site verification of the Kursk NPP-2 replacement 1st and 2nd power blocks under construction as well as the radioactive waste handling complex at the Kursk NPP.

‘The main goal of the commission was to make sure that the customer and the general contractor have not violated the terms of their license for the construction of the VVER-TOI 1st and 2nd power blocks’, Alexey Volnov, the chief engineer of the Kursk NPP-2, said while also noting that the commission comprised top-notch specialists.

During the verification that started on September 17th, the experts paid special attention to how the federal standards and regulations are observed when organizing construction and assembly activities at the capital construction objects, starting with the project documentation and up to the technical issues, radiation safety, compliance with the project, fire safety regulations, and sanitary and epidemiological welfare. The inspectors have reviewed the working materials, the regulatory, administrative and operational documents, had walk-overs at the production units and spoke to the staff.

As a result of the completed activities, the experts didn’t find any violations of the federal regulations and standards with regard to the nuclear energy usage pursuant to the terms of the licenses to operate in this area.

‘The construction process at the Kursk NPP-2 site is organized in a perfect manner. Being specialists in the nuclear and radiation safety, we appreciate that proper implementation and control of construction works pre-define the safety at the operational stage. And if you follow the right approach, you can detect and prevent possible issues straight away’, Alexandr Polin, the deputy head of the Rostekhnadzor’s North-European cross-regional area administration of overseeing nuclear and radiation safety, stated.

Such scheduled verifications are regularly held as a part of the construction oversight at the Kursk NPP-2. The next construction supervision inspection at the construction site is scheduled for spring 2020.

It is important to note that, at the moment, works are carried out at 19 objects of the Kursk NPP-2 construction site according to the schedule, which involves around 3,900 construction and assembly workers. In 2019, all scheduled governmental assignments were completed on time: in March, the core melt localization device (the so-called ‘melt trap’) was installed at the 1st power block, and the concreting of the reactor building’s foundation was completed at the 2nd power block. As of now, 7 out of 11 milestones of this year’s construction have been attained.