In the city of Kurchatov, they began to work on the construction of a training center (TC) for the personnel of the Kursk NPP-2. At the moment, the development of the foundation pit of the building is being carried out.

The training center will be located in the center of the city of Kurchatov, Kursk Region, on the site of a former long-term construction project. This site option was selected in order to reduce the volume of construction in progress in the city and to give an aesthetic appearance to the city center.

“The development of the Russian energy sector is supported at the state level. And the training of highly qualified specialists is one of the tasks to provide the technological sovereignty of the country, - said Alexander Uvakin, director of the Kursk NPP. - Already at the stage of construction of new power units, we are preparing to ensure that the operation of the Kursk NPP-2 is safe, and one of the conditions for ensuring reliable operation should be the coordinated and accurate work of personnel. In the new training center, the operating personnel of the station will work out the quality of their work on a full-scale simulator, which will be an exact copy of the main control room of the power unit with the PWR-TOI reactor. The simulator will be able to simulate all the processes happening at a nuclear power plant, which will allow working out situations during practical training. At present, an agreement has already been signed for the creation of a simulator.”

The total building area will be about 3,000 square meters. The building of the center is designed for 220 trainees and will consist of three block-buildings of different purpose, interconnected: administrative, educational, training.

The training center provides classrooms equipped with modern simulators, including those based on virtual reality, as well as computer classes, auditoriums, a demonstration model room of the PWR-TOI project and a conference room.

“The main function of the training center is the training of operational and maintenance personnel of the Kursk NPP-2. Operators of the refueling machine, who will perform fuel refueling operations in the PWR-TOI reactor plant, as well as welders, electricians and other specialists, will get practical skills here. And since the PWR-TOI project is planned to be replicated during the construction of nuclear power plants abroad, in the future, the personnel of foreign NPPs with PWR-TOI will also be trained here. The recruitment of instructors will be performed in accordance with the requirements and regulations of the Rosatom State Corporation, - said Andrei Osharin, first deputy director for the construction of new units of the Kursk NPP.

Completion of construction work and commissioning of the training center is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2024. According to the regulations, the training center should start functioning no later than 8 months before the physical start-up of the first power unit of the Kursk NPP-2.