On 30 January 2025, the OSART (Operational Safety Review Team) mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was completed at the Novovoronezh NPP (a branch of Rosenergoatom, Joint-Stock Company, Rosatom Electric Power division). This was the first review conducted at two Russian nuclear power units, Nos. 4 and 6, which have reactors belonging to two different generations: the VVER-440 and the VVER-1200, respectively. The international team consisted of 12 experts from the United Kingdom, France, China, Iran, Brazil, Belarus, and South Africa and approximately 240 experts from Russia including representatives from Novovoronezh NPP, Rosenergoatom, Joint-Stock Company, Rostechnadzor, Rosatom Emergency Service Center, and other companies.
Over the course of three weeks, experts inspected the plant’s compliance with international safety standards and employees’ adherence to safety culture principles. They reviewed nine safety-relevant operation areas of the NPP: “Leadership and Management for Safety”, “Training and Qualification”, “Operation”, “Chemistry”, “Maintenance and Repair”, “Technical Support”, “Operating Experience Tracking”, “Radiation Protection”, and “Accident Management”. The inspectors paid particular attention to the state of the facilities, structures, and equipment. They also reviewed the records and corporate performance indicators, visited workshops, observed the work in progress, and interviewed the staff.
The experts suggested one of the practices, “Accident Management”, as optimal for introduction both at other NPPs in Russia and worldwide. They also offered four recommendations related to further improvement of the plant’s safety and operational performance.
“We are grateful to the international experts from the IAEA, who conducted a comprehensive review of two units at the Novovoronezh NPP. This is a group of professionals with a collective operation experience of 282 years in the nuclear energy sector. The review outcomes are positive. The experts have a high opinion of the units operational safety,” said Vladimir Povarov, NPP Director.
