The Moscow Center of the World Association of Organizations Operating Nuclear Power Plants (WANO)* at the Novovoronezh NPP site organized a training seminar for nuclear scientists on the topic of leadership and safety culture in the nuclear industry.

“Similar seminars on the topic of leadership and safety culture have been held by WANO since 2017. The format of today's seminar is unique; it was developed by the Paris, Atlanta and Moscow centers. The focus is on the issues related to working with personnel, establishing a relationship "manager-subordinate", with the creation of the right working atmosphere. Today, the nuclear engineer shall not only strictly follow the instructions, since his activities are strictly regulated, but also properly organize the work of the team,” said Aleksey Soldatov, advisor to the WANO Moscow Center, coordinator of the training seminar.

The five-day course was held as part of the cooperation program between Rosenergoatom and WANO. The event brought together 25 middle managers and specialists from the personnel reserve of eight Russian NPPs, as well as employees of AKKUYU NUCLEAR, which is building the Akkuyu NPP in Turkey according to the Russian project with PWR-1200 reactors.

Similar power units are already successfully operating at the Novovoronezh NPP, as the participants of the seminar were convinced during their visit to the unit control room (CCU) and the turbine hall of the innovative power unit No. 6 of the NV 3+ generation NPP with PWR-1200.

The WANO Moscow Center has prepared an extensive educational interactive program consisting of theory and practice - lectures, viewing and discussion of educational films, business games, discussions. The NPP representatives exchanged information and experience in using best practices at their sites.

Among the topics that were included in the program of the seminar are the role of a leader in ensuring the safe operation of nuclear power plants, the main qualities of a leader, personal behavioral styles, the human factor and tools to improve work efficiency, nuclear safety culture.

“I talked about the safety culture model that exists at WANO, which is consonant with the concept of safety culture adopted at the enterprises of Rosenergoatom. This is an important topic that requires constant attention and discussion.

Each of the participants has their own experience, examples that can be shared with others. This is necessary in order to discover something new, to understand where there are gaps and to improve these processes,” said Vadim Tarykin, head of representatives of the WANO Moscow Center at the NPP sites.

At the end of the seminar, participants received certificates of successful completion of the training course.

*WANO is an international organization whose main mission is to improve the safety and reliability of nuclear power plants around the world. It was founded in May 1989. It consists of more than 125 organizations working together to achieve the highest security standards. The WANO Moscow Center includes 37 organizations. Rosenergoatom is one of the most active operating organizations in the WANO structure.

Today, Russia continues to provide stable energy security. Energy is the basis for the progressive social and economic development of the country, the supply of industry and citizens. The domestic fuel and energy complex works to increase the competitiveness of the national economy, contributes to the development and improvement of the country's regions, cities, towns, to improve the quality of life of citizens.

Operational information on the radiation situation next to Russian NPPs and other facilities of the nuclear industry is available on the website www.russianatom.ru.