On September 25-26, 2019, the International Science and Technology Conference ’55 years of safe VVER NPP operation in Russia and abroad’ took place in Novovoronezh.

The conference was dedicated to 55th anniversary of launching the first power block of the Novovoronezh NPP, and 250 representatives of the scientific community, nuclear power industry, contracting organizations and universities took part in the event. For two days, the participants were exchanging their best practices with regard to top-notch developments in the atomic power.

The plenary meeting was held by the counsellor to the CEO at the Rosatom State Corporation, Doctor of Engineering, Professor Vladimir Asmolov.

‘The Novovoronezh nuclear power plant to me is the VVER’s place of birth. That’s where the VVERs ‘grew’ from 210 megawatt to 120 megawatt. Nowadays, there are VVER power blocks all over the world. Europe, China, India… We have reached as far as Bangladesh. Our ‘family’ – the designers, the project specialists, the scientific advisors and the nuclear power plant’s team – is a great power that can overcome any obstacles’, Vladimir Grigorievich noted when giving his welcome speech.

Further on, a large report ’55 years of safe operation of the Novovoronezh NPP’ was delivered by its director, Vladimir Povarov. He elaborated on the evolution of VVER at the Novovoronezh NPP, the power blocks’ upgrades and top-notch technologies used at the station.

Another interesting report about the people behind the establishment of the Novovoronezh NPP was presented by the legend of the atomic power, the counsellor to the Director of the National Research Center ‘Kurchatov Institute’, Victor Sidorenko. A team from Germany, the representatives of the Gundremmingen NPP, shared their experience of working with the public and the nuances of nuclear power industry in their country. 14 reports were presented in total during the plenary meeting.

At the conference, two robotic science exhibitions were held demonstrating the equipment used for complex operations at the modern Russian power blocks.

On Day 2, the participants split into different panels. The subjects of the reports were related to major activities of atomic power plants: radiation safety, operation and fuel management; thermal and mechanical equipment operation and water chemistry specification management; radiation safety and handling radioactive waste; electrical machinery operation, digitization, intellectual operator support system and many more. The debates were held at the Training Center and the new Information Center of the Novovoronezh NPP.

Summing up the outcomes of the conference, a digest of all 75 reports will be published. The book will be distributed in the scientific community, universities and atomic power industry companies and will be a strong theoretical basis for future generations of nuclear power experts.