Training for Eastern European and former Soviet Union NPPs

The achievement of acceptable standards of safety at nuclear power plants relies on both a good basic design and high standards of operation. Whilst it is necessary to have sufficient plants and safety systems available to cope with all potential faults, ensuring that the plant is operated safely and efficiently is also of the utmost importance. In order to ensure safe operation, it is necessary to have a well trained and motivated operating staff using high quality operating procedures. Over recent years, concerns have been raised over the levels of safety achieved by plants in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union (FSU). This article discusses the ways in which NNC (National Nuclear Corporation) and its European partners in various consortia are providing training assistance to such plants to increase their level of operational safety. Other articles in this issue describe the means by which NNC is assisting in the introduction of hardware improvements. (author)