On April 25, 2011 a public inspection together with a press-tour of federal and regional mass media were held at Beloyarsk NPP.

It engaged experts of Rospotrebnadzor, Ural Ecology and Energy Preservation Centre, the regional office of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency, medical sanitary unit No.32, Ural Federal University, Ural Technological college – branch of NRNU MEPhI as well as municipal authority representatives – Head of Zarechny Municipal District Andrey Kislitsyn, Head of Zarechny Administration Dmitry Pogorelov, deputies of City Duma, Administration Environmental Specialist and Head of Education Administration. The Russian Newspaper (“Rossiyskaya Gazeta”) and four television channels participated in the press-tour.

At present, public inspections are being held at all operating nuclear power plants of the Russian Federation (branches of Rosenergoatom Concern OJSC). They are organized at the initiative of Rosatom State Corporation in order to demonstrate public and mass media representatives a high level of safety and reliability systems of Russian modern power units.

The inspectors visited the construction site of BN-800 power unit, where Heads of Directory of the Constructed Beloyarsk NPP-2 – Director Yuri Noskov and Chief Engineer Nikolay Leontiev – told them about specific features of the new power unit and about construction and installation work progress. The inspection participants were interested to know that apart from common safety systems, BN-800 also provided additional systems. A melt trap - a special construction made of molybdenum plates was installed at the reactor vessel bottom. A peculiar innovation will be represented by hydraulically suspended bars for additional emergency protection: they will “hang”, being supported by a sodium stream and in case of a pump stop they will come down by gravity to the active zone. In addition, BN-800 will have aerial coolers that will provide reactor cooling by natural air flow. The BN-800 structure will also preserve traditional advantages of fast neutron reactors: low pressure in the vessel (a bit higher than the atmosphere pressure), reactor self-protection due to physical properties, two vessels – main and guard, enclosed in each other in accordance with the “nested doll” principle etc.

The inspection participants also visited a unique facility: a normally occupied mounting area of the reactor under a temporary shed above the reactor vault, where BN-800 was being assembled, while walls of the main power unit building were being erected outside.

Then the inspectors visited the Educational and Training Centre of Beloyarsk NPP, where they were acquainted with the system of operating personnel training, proficiency maintaining and improvement as well as watched operators’ actions at BN-600 power unit simulator. They were surprised by the fact that when a graduate with higher education came to the plant, he or she had to undergo a 8-month training in order to occupy the minor post of operating personnel and then - several years of continuous study, exams and probations in order to enter the position of an engineer or reactor operator. Annual training exercises at the simulator help the operating personnel to simulate all operational modes and work out confident actions in various situations.

The guests were also greatly impressed by the visit to operating Beloyarsk NPP. Apart from a traditional excursion route (reactor hall, turbine island and unit control room), annually visited by 800 excursionists of Beloyarsk NPP, public inspection participants were demonstrated many other facilities, engaged in the assurance of power unit safe operation. Among them – BN-600 emergency control room equipped with the latest hardware, which duplicates major systems that help to provide reactor safe shutdown and cooling in case of necessity. A modern computerized system ASKRO (Radiation Environment Automated Control System) was demonstrated to the inspectors in the radiation control room. The system performs automated control of the radiation environment both at the plant and in the territory of its location. The guests also saw power diesel-generators with multiple redundancy that are always ready to provide the plant with auxiliary power supply in case of external energy supply loss. A dosimetrist accompanied the group during the whole day in order to demonstrate by measurements that the radiation background at all facilities corresponded to the natural background values.

The inspection was finished by a round-table discussion with the participation of the authorities of Beloyarsk NPP and Directory of the Constructed Beloyarsk NPP-2.

According to one of the inspection participants - Assistant Professor of Ural Federal University, full-fledged member of the International Academy of Ecological Safety and Environmental Management Vladimir Velkin, such campaigns should be held on a more frequent basis for the sake of open demonstration of nuclear power safety. “We are proud of fast-neutron reactors and we were pleased by the fact that today everything was explained in a manner, comprehensible for the society.”

“Staying close is not only forbidden, but also disadvantageous for nuclear scientists”, Director of Beloyarsk NPP Mikhail Bakanov summarized.