Interest in nuclear industry professions rising in Belarus

MINSK, 5 April (BelTA) – Two leading Belarusian universities that train personnel for the nuclear energy industry – the Belarusian State University and the Belarusian National Technical University – arranged doors open days on 3 April. Meetings with representatives of the nuclear industry took place with assistance of the Russian state corporation Rosatom, the company's press service told BelTA.

During the doors open days prospective university students were informed about the advantages that nuclear education gives and about career opportunities in this sphere. Personnel of the Minsk city center for nuclear energy arranged interactive exhibitions to demonstrate the design and the operation principle of nuclear power plants. Visitors could also go on a virtual tour of the Belarusian nuclear power plant and participate in quizzes about the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

Director of the Nuclear Energy Department of the Belarusian Energy Ministry Vasily Polyukhovich attended the doors open day in the Belarusian National Technical University. During the meeting the official noted that the development of the nuclear energy industry is a strategic direction for Belarus. Success depends a lot on the proper training of highly qualified personnel. “Interest in nuclear professions has been rising in Belarus for the last few years. Belarus started training personnel for the nuclear energy industry in 2008. About 1,000 specialists have been trained since then. The curriculum is being constantly improved and expanded. The Belarusian National Technical University has recently offered a new specialization – designing and operation of nuclear power plants. The personnel training system that has been created can provide all the relevant organizations with the necessary specialists in addition to ensuring the safe operation of the Belarusian nuclear power plant,” Vasily Polyukhovich noted. “We understand that qualified personnel are always a treasure. I would like to note that nuclear industry professions are in demand and are deemed prestigious not only in Belarus but abroad as well. We cannot rule out that Belarusian specialists will soon represent the country at nuclear power plants all over the world.”

Most of the graduates specializing in nuclear energy get jobs with the state enterprise Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant. The graduates also find jobs with thermal power plants, the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry (Gosatomnadzor), the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the energy industry design institute Belnipienergoprom, the N.N. Alexandrov National Cancer Center of Belarus, ATOMTEX, and private companies.

Georgy Shpuntov, Head of the Instructional Support Department of the Education and Training Center of the state enterprise Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant, talked about how the training of nuclear industry specialists is organized. “It is a special process. It includes not only exact sciences but logic training. People are also trained to make independent decisions and also to work as a team. One can say that training continues throughout their career. In order to offer career enhancement the Belarusian nuclear power plant has opened an education and training center where a full-scale simulator of a reactor control room and some other local simulators have been installed. A constant advanced training system has been organized with assistance of our foreign partners,” the official noted.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant actively cooperates with the relevant Belarusian universities in order to find future employees and offer internship opportunities before their graduation. Students of Belarusian universities regularly go through internship at the Belarusian nuclear power plant. They write diploma papers, which are related to the nuclear energy industry. Graduates gladly accept first mandatory post-graduation jobs with the Belarusian nuclear power plant.

Many Belarusian nuclear power plant specialists have gone through internship at existing Russian nuclear power plants. Such internships could last for up to two months so that Belarusian specialists could fully learn the experience of their colleagues. ASE Company Vice President and director of the Belarusian nuclear power plant construction project Vitaly Polyanin said: “Russia has accumulated colossal experience of the safe use of nuclear energy. We are always ready to share it. Besides, as a country intent on developing the nuclear energy industry Belarus recognizes the need to train its own personnel for the nuclear energy industry. I can appreciate the high professionalism of the colleagues I've worked with at the site of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. I am convinced that the experience of current and future Belarusian nuclear industry specialists and of those, who decide to connect their careers to nuclear technologies, will be in demand not only in their own country but at the international level, too. For instance, Rosatom alone is building 35 nuclear power plant units in 12 countries. There has been and there will always be demand for nuclear industry personnel.”