January/February 2000 - Highlight

Armenia - Bulgaria - Czech Republic - Hungary

- Kazakhstan - Lithuania - Russia - Slovakia

- Ukraine - United States - Cross-Cutting Activities - Planned Activities

Ukraine

Expanded training course unveiled for simulator instructors

U.S. and Ukrainian training specialists jointly presented a newly revamped training course during the last half of January. Personnel from Khmelnytskyy NPP served as students for the simulator instructor training course, which has undergone major modification since October 1999. In response to requests from Ukrainian instructors, the course length was extended from one week to two weeks and the content expanded to include more depth.

The U.S.-Ukrainian joint implementation served as a dry run before Ukrainian trainers present the course on their own in March 2000 for Zaporizhzhya NPP simulator instructors (see Planned Activities).

Specialists participating in the January dry run included trainers from Khmelnytskyy and Zaporizhzhya NPPs, the Engineering and Technical Center for the Training of Nuclear Power Plant Personnel, Sonalysts, Inc., and Human Performance Analysis Corporation. The latter served as independent reviewer of the modified instructional program. (John Yoder DOE, 301-903-5650; Don Draper, PNNL, 509-372-4079)

Scenarios for emergency operating instructions near completion

In January, representatives from Energorisk and Rivne, Zaporizhzhya, and South Ukraine NPPs participated in a two-week workshop in Richland, Washington, to develop scenarios for validating symptom-based emergency operating instructions. To date, specialists from Rivne NPP have completed scenarios for their plant. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory specialists are reviewing them for completeness. Zaporizhzhya NPP has submitted approximately one-third of its scenarios, which also are being reviewed. (Dennis Meyers, DOE, 301-903-1418; Larry Sherfey, PNNL, 509-372-4080)

Energoatom managers participate in quality assurance seminar

Approximately 25 department and division managers from Energoatom participated in a quality assurance seminar on February 23 in Kyiv. Seminar presenters included representatives of the Energoatom Quality and Surveillance Directorate and the Nuclear Power Plant Operations Support Institute, INIT, British Energy, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The seminar, a follow-on to ones presented to nuclear power plant managers in 1999, focused on the benefits of and requirements for quality assurance application in work related to Ukraine's nuclear power plants. (Dennis Meyers, DOE, 301-903-1418; Lief Erickson, PNNL, 509-372-4097)

Energorisk analysts modify data input deck for Rivne safety assessment

During January, Ukrainian analysts completed modifications to the principal data input deck, or analytical model, developed for U.S.-supported safety assessments under way at Rivne NPP. Analysts from Energorisk, the Ukrainian subcontractor to Rivne NPP, performed the tasks in conjunction with Rivne plant specialists. They completed their work on January 7.

The modifications, including verification and validation of input data, will enable specialists to apply the RELAP5 computer code to the Level 1 probabilistic risk assessment analyses of Rivne Unit 1, a VVER-440 Model 312 reactor. A probabilistic risk assessment is an essential component of modern technology for analyzing nuclear power plant safety. It assesses risks not addressed by the prescriptive methodology for design-basis accident assessment, providing information from which to identify areas on which to focus plant safety upgrades. (Walter Pasedag, DOE, 301-903-3628; Charles Dickerman, ANL, 630-252-4622)

South Ukraine and Energorisk complete models for safety assessment and screening analysis of fire hazards for Unit 1

South Ukraine NPP staff and specialists from Energorisk collaborated in January to complete work on all analytical models to be used in the in-depth safety assessment of South Ukraine Unit 1. The models, or input decks, will facilitate calculations that must be performed as part of the overall deterministic safety assessment for South Ukraine NPP.

Energorisk specialists completed the MELCOR model for South Ukraine Unit 1. The MELCOR model can be used to analyze accident progression and to mitigate accident consequences. It will be used to supplement the design-basis accident analyses performed using the RELAP5 and CONTAIN codes.

The South Ukraine team also completed a screening analysis of the internal fire hazards at Unit 1. This information will be used to define the approach and scope to further analyze the fire risk. The screening analysis provides a preliminary assessment of Unit 1's vulnerability to fire hazards and, where feasible, screens fire hazards of low risk (compared to the risk from initiators of internal events). The screening analysis also identifies scenarios that need a detailed assessment and the data needed to perform the risk assessment. Plans for completing the fire hazard risk assessment will be outlined from this information. (Walter Pasedag, DOE, 301-903-3628; Christian Kot, ANL, 630-252-6151)

RELAP5 thermal-hydraulic model completed for Zaporizhzhya's Unit 5

Specialists from Joint Stock Enterprise EIS, the lead technical contractor for Zaporizhzhya NPP, collaborated with Zaporizhzhya technical staff in February to complete the RELAP5 thermal-hydraulic model for the reactor systems of Zaporizhzhya's Unit 5. This model now is being used to perform success criteria calculations for the Level 1 internal events probabilistic risk assessment, an integral element of the overall safety assessment for Unit 5. The RELAP5 model will be adapted later to perform further deterministic safety assessments for Unit 5. (Walter Pasedag, DOE, 301-903-3628; Christian Kot, ANL, 630-252-6151)

Physical security upgrades begin at Khmelnytskyy

A contract was negotiated and established in February to allow Transexpo Corporation of Ukraine to install physical security upgrades at Khmelnytskyy Unit 1. Planned upgrades include improvements to access control in the vital and limited access areas; detection, assessment, and alarm equipment; interior physical barriers; and related training programs and procedures. Energoatom and the State Nuclear Regulatory Administration have approved the project. Khmelnytskyy NPP will provide some materials and labor resources to manufacture metal doors and do some of the installation. The schedule calls for the project to be completed in July. (Grigory Trosman, DOE, 301-903-3501; Andrei Glukhov, PNNL, 509-375-3961)