November 1999 Highlight

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Ukraine United States Cross-Cutting Activities Planned Activities

Ukraine

Simulator development progress reviewed in Ukraine

During November, U.S. specialists from Brookhaven and Pacific Northwest national laboratories began work on one new simulator project and conducted reviews of two others. The projects involve three separate nuclear power plant sites in Ukraine.

In Odessa, the U.S. team members joined representatives of Energoatom, LAKROM, Zaporizhzhya NPP, and U.S. simulator vendor GSE Power Systems, Inc., to kick off a new safety project for the plant. Under the project, GSE and LAKROM will develop a full-scope simulator for Zaporizhzhya Unit 1. Completion is targeted for April 2002.

During on-site visits to two more nuclear power plants, the U.S. team verified that the full-scope simulators for South Ukraine Unit 1 and Rivne Unit 3 meet the contractual and technical requirements at the intermediate design stage of their development. They also reviewed the status of the simulator control panels at Energotraining facilities in Ukranka. Energotraining, a Ukrainian firm specializing in simulator control panel design and manufacturing, is a subcontractor to GSE. Energotraining representatives reported that panels for the Rivne simulator had been completed and delivered to the plant site. Panels for the South Ukraine simulator are being completed; delivery to the plant is expected in February 2000. (John Yoder, DOE, 301-903-5650; Joe Cleary, PNNL, 509-372-4094)

Training program being readied for transfer to plants in Ukraine

Training specialists from Khmelnytskyy NPP, the Engineering and Technical Center for the Training of Nuclear Industry Personnel, and the U.S. team collaborated in Kyiv November 9 through 18 on efforts to transfer the Control Room Reactor Operator training program to three additional nuclear power plants in Ukraine. The training specialists worked with technical and training personnel from Rivne, South Ukraine, and Zaporizhzhya NPPs to develop plant-specific versions of the training program for the three sites. Work to transfer this training program began in July 1999 at the request of the participating plants. The program supports effective use of control room simulators for personnel training at each plant site. (John Yoder, DOE, 301-903-5650; Don Draper, PNNL, 509-372-4079)

Zaporizhzhya safe-shutdown analysis project reviewed

U.S. fire safety specialists from Brookhaven and Pacific Northwest national laboratories met in Ukraine November 6 through 11 with the host-country working group conducting the safe-shutdown analysis for Zaporizhzhya Unit 5. The Ukrainian working group presented its report, The list of the unit systems and their functions to be used for safe shutdown in case of fire.

After some discussion, the U.S. and Ukrainian specialists agreed that some of the systems and functions included in the report were not necessary for safe shutdown in the event of a fire and removed them from the original list. The reduced number of systems will simplify the work of the Energoproekt specialists doing the analysis tasks for the project.

Other topics covered in the review included submittal dates for Energoproekt's reports on specific analysis tasks, draft statements of work for the next phase of the project, and whether the Level 1 probabilistic risk assessment for Zaporizhzhya Unit 5 will be available as a resource for the project's next phase. In addition, Energoproekt representatives suggested a need for developing a national regulation for performing safe-shutdown analyses at Ukraine's nuclear power plants. They agreed to prepare a request for funding and present it to Energoatom for inclusion in the budget for the year 2000. (Rich Reister, DOE, 301-903-0234; Andrew Minister, PNNL, 509-376-4938)

Khmelnytskyy safety assessment team completes project guidelines, optimizes local area network for Y2K compliance

During November, specialists from Khmelnytskyy NPP and Kyiv Energoproekt, the plant's Ukrainian subcontractor, completed the project guidelines for the plant's in-depth safety assessment. The guidelines specify modern nuclear power plant safety techniques to be used in performing the assessment. Technical staff from U.S. contractor Data Systems & Solutions collaborated with the Ukrainian team members in developing the guidelines.

Khmelnytskyy members of the in-depth safety assessment team also received training on the local area network established for the project's computer system. The Ukrainian contractor Frehat provided the training, which included system optimization and compliance with year 2000 (Y2K) requirements. (Walter Pasedag, DOE, 301-903-3628; Charles Dickerman, ANL, 630-252-4622)

Key analytical models, systems descriptions documentation completed for Rivne safety assessment Specialists from Energorisk, Ukrainian subcontractor to Rivne NPP, recently completed all development work on two analytical models critical to the Rivne Unit 1 in-depth safety assessment of Rivne's VVER-440 reactors in Units 1 and 2. The models-also referred to as input data decks-are essential technical components of modern safety assessment methodology for assessing risks and identifying areas on which to focus resources for safety upgrades.

The RELAP5 model is the basic thermal-hydraulic input data deck for the Rivne in-depth safety assessment. Energorisk specialists finished its development, including verification and validation of input data, input models, and computer input, on October 8. Specialists will modify the input deck as needed for specific individual calculations for both the probabilistic risk assessment and the deterministic design-basis accident analysis.

The CONTAIN input deck, completed on November 12, will be used in analyzing the capability of the Rivne Unit 1 and 2 reactors to contain consequences of accidents.

Energorisk specialists developed the analytical models with technical assistance from SCIENTECH, Inc. Development of the models in accordance with modern quality assurance and validation/verification techniques demonstrates the successful transfer of this technology to the Ukrainian members of the Rivne safety assessment team.

Also on October 8, specialists from Rivne NPP and Energorisk completed all documentation for the Rivne Unit 1 systems descriptions. Systematic, verified documentation of plant systems is a key component of the modern approach to nuclear power plant safety. Preparation and verification of the Rivne Unit 1 documentation in accordance with international practices also demonstrates an important step in the transfer of nuclear power plant safety technology. (Walter Pasedag, DOE, 301-903-3628; Charles Dickerman, ANL, 630-252-4622)

Host-Country firm will support South Ukraine safety assessment

Engineering Technologies and Developments (ET&D), a Ukrainian firm based in Kyiv, will perform the quality assurance and peer review functions for the in-depth safety assessment under way at South Ukraine NPP. Earlier this fall, the U.S. team selected the company for this work.

In early November, ET&D staff and a U.S. specialist from Brookhaven National Laboratory reviewed the firm's plans for the upcoming work. They also made preparations for a related seminar on quality assurance/peer review methodology scheduled for ET&D staff in early December (see "Planned Activities"). (Walter Pasedag, DOE, 301-903-3628; Ted Ginsberg, BNL, 516-344-2620)

Plant physical security upgrades under way at Khmelnytskyy

Progress to date on work to upgrade physical security measures at Khmelnytskyy NPP underwent review in late October. A U.S. team member from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory toured the plant site and held subsequent discussions with security personnel from Khmelnytskyy NPP and representatives of Energoatom and the State Nuclear Regulatory Administration in Kyiv. The discussions with Energoatom led to development and agreement on the final list of internal areas and basic equipment needing upgrades at the plant. The scope of work will include equipment purchases, installation, testing and commissioning; procedures development; and personnel training.

The U.S. team began the equipment purchasing process in November. Next, a request for proposal will be transmitted to the Ukrainian participants. In December, the Ukrainian team will prepare and submit technical and price proposals covering the balance of the work scope. The work to be done will augment the personnel badging system provided by the U.S. team in June 1999. That system enables plant management to replace the former easily altered personnel identification badges with plastic cards, each imprinted with a color photographic image of a plant employee. The images are captured and maintained in an electronic database of bonafide plant personnel. (Grigory Trosman, DOE, 301-903-3581; Andrei Glukhov, PNNL, 509-375-3961)