On September 18-19, 2019, this year’s largest complex emergency response drill – CERD-2019 – tool place at the Smolensk NPP.

Over 1000 people were involved in the drill, including the NPP’s staff, the specialists of the nuclear power plants emergency assistance groups (NPPEAG), the Rosatom’s crisis center, the Rosenergoatom Joint-stock company, the EMERCOM forces, the Ministry of Defense, the Russian FMBA, the supporting institutes and research centers, the governmental authorities. Several dozens of special equipment units were utilized.

Foreign specialists from France, South Korea, Finland, Egypt, the Czech Republic, the UAE, Turkey etc. as well as several media representatives observed the drill.

According to Andrey Dementyev, the drill manager, the deputy CEO and the director of NPP production and operation at the Rosenergoatom Joint-Stock Company, the main goal of the drill is to practice joint actions between the emergency response participants.

‘The complex emergency response drill is the most large-scale training for the forces and the tools that will be utilized in case an emergency occurs at the nuclear power plant. Today we are working with the full set of equipment that enbles us to handle any non-trivial situations at the NPP’, Andrey Dementyev said. ‘The CERD participants have demonstrated that all departments, interconnected divisions and units are ready to resolve any emergency. We have a clear understanding of how the responsibilities are split, and everyone is ready to work together as one’.

Following the scenario of Day 1 drill, the team practiced on very hypothetical and highly unlikely occurrence of multiple adverse events at the same time – natural disasters and simultaneous system failures at several power blocks. As a part of the drill, the nuclear power plant’s staff deployed portable counter-accident equipment in order to restore the power supply and the equipment cooling systems – mobile diesel generation and pumping facilities. The team has also practiced their skills in organizing and carrying out conditional localization and emergency management, evacuation of a hypothetical victim from the NPP power block and evacuation of the NPP personnel.

The action items stipulated in the Day 2 scenario were planned for multiple opearation spots. The departments of the 1st fire and salvage unit that services the Smolensk NPP demonstated their hands-on skills in putting out fires of different types and delivering first aid to the injured ones. Specially allocated equipment was used to practice the actions required to deactivated the hardware and to provide sanitary processing to the NPP’s staff. Provisional evacuation points were deployed in Desnogorsk and Yershichy settlement of the Yelnin district.

When evaluating the level of coordination between the emergency response teams that the latter demonstrated during the drill, Pavel Lubenskiy, the director of the Smolensk NPP, noted:

‘These drills are an important component of the never-ending and comprehensive work on making the Smolensk NPP more secure. The main goal of the NPP as set by the government and the Rosatom’s management is to produce electric and heat power while meticulously following safety requirements. The obligation to carry out the drill is stipulated in the regulations of the Russian Federation. The Smolensk NPP has managed to successfully address all its assignments planned for the drill’.

Andrey Dementiev said that the drill went ‘fine’ and stated that the CERD participants were well prepared, while all departments and services worked together very well. The drill manager stressed that one of the main goals of a drill is to identify areas for

improvement, which is why the outcomes will be carefully analyzed and an action plan will be elaborated to further improve the emergency preparedness system.

During the drill, all Smolensk NPP power blocks were operating as usual. At the moment, three power blocks with the total capacity of 2565 megawatt are in action, and there are no complaints with regard to how the equipment works. The radiation background at the Smolensk NPP’s production site and the surrounding area hasn’t changed and corresponds to the natural leve.