Rosenergoatom JSC (part of the Electric Power Division of Rosatom State Corporation) has summed up the results of its digital unit for 2020.

Data processing centers (DPC) and cloud services have been the main point of growth in this direction. The development of data centers has also been a strategic focus, providing for the entry of Rosenergoatom into the TOP-5 participants in the data center market by 2025. Concepts for the construction of new data centers in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Innopolis received approval in accordance with this strategy. Also following this direction, the company has been working on a new project for the development of a network of infrastructure sites directly connected to the nuclear industry.

Rosenergoatom's data centers were highly praised by the professional community. In particular, the Kalinin data center was recognized as the best in 2020, and the infrastructure site project was recognized as the best project of the year according to the National Award “Data Centers.RF”. In the spring of 2020, the first such site was opened on the territory of the Kalinin data center to accommodate modular and container data centers with a total capacity of 32 MW.

In September, Director General of Rosatom Alexei Likhachev and the President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov launched a project to create the Innopolis data center with a capacity of up to 16 MW, which will become the largest data center in the Volga Federal District.

In October, Rosenergoatom and PAO Rosseti signed an agreement on plans to build a new data center in Moscow with a capacity of up to 48 MW.

A corporate cluster of Rosenergoatom subsidiaries was created for the management and development of the Data Center Network Program: Atomdata-Center, which is an industry specific company-integrator of the commercial data centers infrastructure, Atomdata, which is a cloud integrator, and Atomdata-Innopolis, which is a resident of the Innopolis SEZ.

In addition to the construction of new data centers, a portfolio of cloud services based on the secure commercial cloud of Rosatom is actively developing. It includes placement and management of virtual IT infrastructure based on the ATOMCLOUD platform, services for organizing and supporting remote workplaces, as well as a number of other services. A public cloud for universities and educational institutions was deployed on the basis of the Kalinin data center, accompanied by a project to create a digital pedagogical platform.

Development of digital systems and tools to improve the company’s efficiency was also the primary focus of attention this year. The JSC has launched a large-scale digital project to create a support system for NPP operation. It is a unified information platform that integrates operations, maintenance and repair, as well as engineering support, resource management and documentation. The project will be implemented during 2021-2024 at nine Russian nuclear power plants, and in the future, it may also be introduced at foreign nuclear power plants of Russian design.

The Kola NPP saw a successful implementation of a smart video analytics system based on artificial intelligence technologies. The purpose of the system is to ensure compliance with technical and industrial safety rules. Next year, the system is scheduled to run at other stations as well.

At the Novovoronezh NPP, a pilot project has been completed to create a predictive analytics system for power generators, which will promptly detect hidden defects in equipment and reduce fines for unplanned shutdowns.

An automated technical document management system has been successfully introduced, resulting in the automation of work with 14 types of technical documentation with a total volume of more than 50 TB. The number of users of this system has exceeded 32 thousand people.

In December, a pilot solution for the industry register of data sets was launched jointly by Rosatom and Tsifrum (part of Rosatom). This solution will ensure the collection and storage of data, as well as their use in predictive analytics and training of artificial intelligence. In the future, corporate platforms of artificial intelligence will be created on its basis, using the accumulated experience of the entire nuclear industry.

Over the past year, the Digital Technologies Center of the company has implemented more than 50 software robots to automate routine business processes. Among our own developments are mobile applications: ATOMSTART for adaptation of new employees and ATOMEVENT to support the organization of events. The applications have already been piloted by the organizations belonging to the Electric Power Division and will be released commercially next year.

All these projects are not only aimed at increasing the company’s efficiency, but are also components of the NPP Operation Template, which is an integrated set of digital platforms and tools that ensure the optimal functioning of processes at NPPs, from the moment of object design to its decommissioning. The Template will be implemented at all Russian nuclear power plants, and will also be proposed as a new product for foreign nuclear power plants that are being built by Rosatom under the BOO (build-own-operate) scheme, as well as for other complex industrial facilities.

Experts of Rosatom have also worked intensely on solving strategic problems concerning import substitution and digitalization of the energy complex of the Russian Federation, within the framework of the Digital Energy Association. A program of import substitution of key IT systems has started in the Electric Power Division itself, and more than 4,300 users have already started working at import-substituted workplaces.

Sergey Migalin, Deputy Director General and Director for Economics and Finance of Rosatom, noted: “This year we have made a powerful step forward. Our consistent work to create a network of fault-tolerant data centers and a commercial cloud allowed us to get through the pandemic with minimal losses. We were able not only to ensure the transition to remote work for several thousand of our employees in the shortest possible time, but also to create modern digital products for the commercial market based on our own solutions. One of the main products is the corporate virtualized environment. This is a package solution based on Russian technologies, which includes virtualization and a typical workplace with a full range of services and tools, including video analytics systems, information panels, communication tools, and so on.”

According to Mr. Migalin, external revenue in the digital direction for this year will exceed 650 million rubles, and the total commercial revenue for the Kalinin Data Center since the moment it was put into operation has already exceeded 1.5 billion rubles.

When introducing Rosatom’s plans for 2021, Sergey Migalin stressed the following: “Two development vectors have been established. These are: Expansion of the line of cloud solutions and services owned by both the company and its partners, as well as creation and testing of components of the NPP Operations Template, which is set to become one of the leading digital products made by the company within the next five years”.