The personnel of Balakovo NOO is one of the most professional teams in the region. Almost 30% of the 4,500 people working at the plant have higher education, ¼ - high specialized education. Work at NPP requires real professionalism: deep technical knowledge, high responsibility and self-discipline. That’s why the management of Balakovo NPP pays special attention to personnel training. For this purpose they have set up a personnel training center. This facility is equipped with unique full-scale functional and analytical simulators. Not only local personnel but also specialists from foreign NPPs (Bushehr, Tianwan, Kudankulam) are trained at the center. International cooperation in personnel training is important as it helps to share experience and to disseminate new system methods and approaches.

All the center’s instructors are highly-qualified specialists with higher education and big experience. Many of them are involved in WANO partner inspections. In training its personnel Balakovo NPP applies a system approach based on the experience of many world NPPs. In fact, this is an international standard recommended by IAEA as tested and reliable model. Operators are trained under individual programs. Special importance is given to emergency response exercises. The full-scale simulator of the modular control board brings the training maximally close to reality.

The annual schedule of exercises is approved by the methodological council of Balakovo NPP, led by the plant’s chief engineer A.Shutikov. This document is a law for the local personnel.

The key goal of the management is to maintain the qualification of their personnel. For this purpose, they carry out three-year training programs. The fifth program was launched in 2004. It involves modular control board operators and operating personnel.

Special attention is paid to young specialists – almost 140 people – and their professional growth. They constitute a worthy reserve. One more important program is cross-training. 132 specialists acquired new allied professions in 2004: nuclear and radiation safety, emergency response, medical assistance, fire prevention. Balakovo NPP has a special training ground for fire fighters, which offer to trainees maximally realistic situations.

Psychological training is one of the key aspects of the plants safety culture policy. Highly-qualified psychologists work with the personnel on a regular basis with a view to enhance the reliability of the “human factor.”

Now the training center of Balakovo NPP employs 88 people; 40 of them are instructors. No other NPP in Russia has so many instructors. And they all are real professionals.

The plant gives top priority to the social security of its personnel. The labor protection system of Balakovo NPP is reputedly the best in “Rosenergoatom” Concern.

Balakovo NPP has effective social development, health care, education and housing programs. Each year the employees of the plant are sent to sanatoriums and resorts and are provided with loans for paying the tuitions of their children and solving their housing problems.

The management of Balakovo NPP admits that personnel training is essential for the plant’s safety and efficiency and strictly observes the principle of constant personnel development declared by “Rosenergoatom” Concern. 

The director of the plant is responsible for the qualification of his personnel. The key goals of personnel training are personnel competence and safety culture as key prerequisites of safety and efficiency.

The management guarantee that they will support any initiative of the personnel for enhancing their competence.