Belarusian nuclear power plant’s education, training center opened in Ostrovets

A training and education center of the Belarusian nuclear power plant opened for test operation in the town of Ostrovets on 4 January, BelTA learned from Eduard Svirid, Head of the Information and Public Relations Department of the state enterprise Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant.

According to the source, specialists, who will be employed to operate the control desk of the nuclear power plant in the future, started training sessions using the center’s full-scale simulator.

Shift supervisors for the power-generating unit, shift supervisors of the reactor department and the turbine department, senior engineers for controlling the reactor and the turbine now use the simulator for training.

The training program follows the established scenarios. The main purpose is to allow the shift personnel to work out the skills necessary to manage the power-generating unit using the control desk. They will also practice interaction as part of a shift. The optimal composition of the shift that is likely to operate the power-generating unit in the end will be determined.

The simulator is in test mode now, but still serves as a full-value educational medium. The skills the simulator will help work out will be in demand during the power-generating unit’s startup and commissioning operations.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant is a project to build an AES-2006 type nuclear power plant 18km away from Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast. The Belarusian nuclear power plant will have two power-generating units with the total output capacity of up to 2,400MW (2x1,200MW). In line with the general contract for building the nuclear power plant the first power-generating unit is scheduled for commissioning in 2018, with the second one to go online in 2020.