Nuclear power and the nuclear industry have always been the most important components of Ukraine's economic, energy and environmental security. Today, the key issue for the development of this industry is personnel training. Among the three Ukrainian universities that directly train specialists for the nuclear power industry, Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute is the most powerful and stable, which is why the employment rate of its graduates exceeds 60%.
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To train specialists whose activities will be related to the operation of nuclear power plants, the Educational and Research Institute of Nuclear and Thermal Energy, in particular, successfully uses a multifunctional simulator provided by the Argonne National Laboratory with the support of the US Department of Energy. It simulates all processes occurring in nuclear reactors. The supply, installation, and setup were performed by the American company Western Services Corporation (WSC), which has 20 years of international experience in the field of simulator construction for nuclear power plants. This equipment makes it possible to significantly improve the practical and theoretical training of students and use it to improve the skills of NPP personnel.
By the way, thanks to cooperation with Energoatom, the software of the complex was customized for the VVER-1000 model. In general, the capabilities of such equipment allow training specialists not only for VVER reactor installations, but also for PWRs.
The laboratory with the simulator is located in the premises of the NPP Reliability and Safety Research Center. This is a powerful software and hardware complex consisting of 4 servers, 12 student operator workstations (each with 2 monitors), laboratory assistant and instructor workstations, and 3 large screens. The education and training of future NPP reactor operators takes place in the form of individual or group lessons, when students practice the actions of operating personnel in certain situations. Thanks to such training, young specialists will be closer to solving real problems that will be expected at work almost immediately after graduation, the Institute of IATE notes.
“The management and employees of Energoatom are well aware of the importance of personnel training. We have long established fruitful cooperation, in particular, last year KPI received specialists seconded from NNEGC - specialists of the ZNPP Training Center, who help us a lot in mastering the multifunctional simulator of the nuclear facility,” said Professor Yevhen Pysmennyi, Director of the Institute of IAEA.
It should be noted that both specialists, each of whom has more than 25 years of professional experience, worked in the ZNPP operating unit and overcame certain stages of operational work. Then they trained the staff. However, due to the occupation of Zaporizhzhya NPP by Russian troops, they, like many of their colleagues, were forced to leave their homes and jobs. When they received an offer to provide professional assistance to KPI, a new stage in their professional history began. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear engineers, now instructors of the multifunctional simulator, say that the new activity is interesting for them, although, of course, the training simulator has its own specifics, just as working with students has certain peculiarities.
Serhii Klevtsov, Head of the NPP Reliability and Safety Research Center, speaks about his new colleagues: “ZNPP experts with real operational experience at the VVER-1000 reactor unit and full-scale NPP simulator have significantly strengthened our work. They have a good command of training technology and understand what a future nuclear engineer should know. Their reasonable suggestions have made us realize how to better conduct classes, practice theory, etc. On their initiative, we have an elective for 3-5 year students who willingly come to the laboratory during their free time and consult directly with them - people who operated the power unit - during their independent training.”
Students share the same opinion: “Laboratory classes based on the simulator are very helpful in understanding future work at a nuclear power plant. If any question arises, the instructors explain everything in a meaningful, understandable and interesting way, which adds interest to the training and to future work at the plant.”
“The National Nuclear Energy Generating Company Energoatom, the operator of all Ukrainian NPPs and the largest employer in the nuclear energy sector, strives to attract qualified young personnel to its team of thousands of nuclear workers,” the company confirms its strong partnership with Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute.