St. Petersburg – Moscow, July 16, 2020 – RAOS Project Oy, the general supplier of the Hanhikivi-1 NPP and Rusatom Service JSC, the supplier of engineering and maintenance services at all stages of NPP lifetime, signed the contract for a basic training course on the VVER-1200 design for the staff of Fennovoima, the customer and future operator of the Hanhikivi-1 NPP.
Targeted at engineering and technical personnel, the training program will be delivered by Rosatom Technical Academy’s instructors and experts at Fennovoima’s office in Finland. Given the COVID-19 situation in the world, the training can also be held online.
Under the contract, the basic course will contain a description of the nuclear power plant, its major equipment, systems and processes. The training includes six sessions to be held over three years. Duration of one session is 80 training hours. The total number of the personnel to undergo the basic course program is 300, i.e. 50 Fennovoima employees per session.
The first training session is scheduled for December 2020.
The contract provides for mandatory pilot lessons and interviews with Rosatom Technical Academy’s instructors. Fennovoima approved of this practice in 2018.
Victoria Zhuravleva, Head of NPP personnel training division, RAOS Project Oy, said: “Over five years, we have built considerable experience working with our customer Fennovoima, and formulated the specifics of training Fennovoima’ specialists and the required systematic approach. From this, Rosatom Technical Academy’s experts and instructors develop training materials, visual and interactive aids, and then conduct training sessions.
Knowledge of English, technical expertise and production experience are not enough, though. Instructors must also have a deep knowledge of various training methods for adults who are university-educated professionals. At the end of the course, the training will be assessed against a variety of parameters. To make it objective, assessments will be provided by all participants: Fennovoima, RAOS Project, Rusatom Service and Rosatom Technical Academy. And they will do so independently of each other. A summary report of all four participants will show the result of the work done together.”
Kim St?lhandske, Operational Readiness Manager, Fennovoima Oy, said: “Competent organization is one of the most important factors influencing the power plant’s successful and safe commissioning. It is essential for us to achieve operational readiness in due time before the initial fuel loading. To reach it, we will develop our organizational competence with the technical training program realized by the plant supplier RAOS Project. The training program starts with basic training now in the licensing phase. It aims to provide all Fennovoima staff with fundamental knowledge of the plant. As the next step, we have begun the preparatory work and cooperation with RAOS Project to develop the specific training courses for Fennovoima’ personnel with the operation, maintenance, and technical support functions. The specific training will amount for the largest portion of NPP personnel training, and it will proceed at the early stages of the Hanhikivi 1 power plant’s commissioning.”
Preparations are underway to put together a contract for the main training program for the operating personnel of the Finnish power plant. Fennovoima has already pre-approved Rusatom Service and Rosatom Technical Academy as safety class 2 (Grade B) training providers for the Hanhikivi-1 Project.
For reference:
The Hanhikivi-1 Project provides for the construction of a single-unit NPP based on a modern Russian-designed Generation III+ VVER-1200 reactor with a capacity of 1200 MW. The customer, owner and operator of the future NPP is the Finnish company Fennovoima Oy. The Hanhikivi-1 NPP will be built on the Hanhikivi cape in the municipality of Pyh?joki in the Finnish region of Northern Ostrobothnia. At present, the project is at the stage of licensing and preparatory work at the NPP construction site. The license is expected in 2021.
RAOS Project Oy is the general supplier of the Hanhikivi-1 NPP under the EPC Contract (Engineering, Procurement, Construction) signed with the NPP customer and operator Fennovoima Oy on December 21, 2013. RAOS Project, a 100% subsidiary of Rusatom Energy International JSC (a Rosatom State Nuclear Corporation company), was established in Finland in 2015 for the purpose of the Hanhikivi-1 Project execution. The company has offices in Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Moscow, and at the NPP construction site in Pyh?joki.
