June 2000 Highlight

Armenia Bulgaria Czech Republic Hungary

Kazakhstan Lithuania Russia Slovakia

Ukraine United States Cross-Cutting Activities Planned Activities

Ukraine

Over the past five years, the U.S. team has provided a variety of fire safety improvements to Chornobyl Unit 3. The improvements include

• 80 sets of firefighter turnout gear

• penetration sealant and cable coating material

• fire protective coating for the structural steel in the turbine hall

• 250 fire doors

• 400 powder fire extinguishers, 300 carbon dioxide fire extinguishers, and 100 lance nozzles and hoses

• a fire detection and alarm system

• 30 self-contained breathing units with 69 tanks

• an air compressor for the breathing units

• a base radio and 20 portable radios.

In June, Ukrainian customs officials released the radios. The radios were delivered to the plant, and the fire detection and alarm system were programmed and tested. These activities complete the U.S. project in support of fire safety improvements for Chornobyl Unit 3. Although the operating unit is scheduled for shutdown by the end of 2000, fire safety at the site will remain a concern for an extended time beyond that.

The Chornobyl site fire department has developed a list of additional fire safety equipment for which it is seeking international financial support to provide adequate fire protection across the plant site. The U.S. Department of Energy has committed to providing a foam spray tanker truck to the fire department as its contribution to the international effort. (Grigory Trosman, DOE, 301-903-3581; Rich Denning, PNNL, 614-424-7412)

Representatives of the U.S. team formally turned over a full-scope simulator to South Ukraine NPP in early June. The state-of-the-art simulator will be used to train control room operators for South Ukraine Unit 3, a VVER-1000 reactor.

Project participants watch as a ceremonial ribbon is cut to mark formal turnover of the Unit 3 full-scope simulator to South Ukraine NPP. Shown in foreground, left to right, are John Yoder, U.S. Department of Energy; Borys Bilyk, South Ukraine site director, and Sergei Vybornov, South Ukraine training manager.

Participating in the turnover-related activities were representatives of Energoatom and the Main State Inspectorate, as well as the simulator contractors LAKROM (Russia) and GSE Power Systems, Inc. (United States). Managers of the simulator project from the U.S. Department of Energy and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory represented the U.S. team at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Work to develop the simulator for Unit 3 began in July 1995. Site acceptance tests were completed at the plant in April 2000 (see April Activity Report). The turnover ceremony marks the completion of this project for the U.S. team. (John Yoder, DOE, 301-903-5650; Joe Cleary, PNNL, 509-372-4094)

Nuclear specialists from several organizations gathered at South Ukraine NPP June 12 through 15 to develop a plan and checklists for an upcoming audit at the plant. The workshop, sponsored by South Ukraine’s quality assurance department, was aimed at preparing for an early-July audit to assess compliance and work performance related to radiation monitoring of the environment at the plant.

Workshop participants included two persons from Energoatom’s quality assurance department and one representing the Nuclear Power Plant Operational Support Institute (NPP OSI). The manager and staff of the South Ukraine quality assurance department, as well as staff of the South Ukraine environmental laboratory, also participated. Specialists from Babione Enterprises and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory represented the U.S. team.

The Energoatom and NPP OSI representatives identified national and Energoatom requirements for the radiation monitoring. The South Ukraine laboratory staff provided technical expertise and knowledge of plant procedures related to the audit. The U.S. team members described audits and assessments as done in the United States. They also provided examples of documents related to environmental monitoring and copies of audit criteria documents from two U.S. nuclear power plants. At the conclusion of the workshop, all participants agreed they were well prepared for the upcoming audit. (Dennis Meyers, DOE, 301-903-1418; Lief Erickson, PNNL, 509-372-4097)

During June, training and technical specialists from Ukraine’s Khmelnytskyy NPP and the Engineering and Technical Center for the Training of Nuclear Industry Personnel implemented pilot training programs for control room reactor operators at Zaporizhzhya and South Ukraine NPPs. The programs, developed specifically for each plant with the technical support of a U.S. specialist from Sonalysts, Inc., were taught for the first time at Zaporizhzhya during the first week of June and at South Ukraine June 26 through 30. Trainees at both plants were incumbent control room reactor operators and their supervisors. A representative of Human Performance Analysis Corporation observed and provided evaluative feedback on the implementations. Based on the feedback, each course will be modified as needed before being made a part of each nuclear power plant’s training curriculum for plant personnel. (John Yoder, DOE, 301-903-5650; Don Draper, PNNL, 509-372-4079)