Professional and psychological preparedness of the personnel is the basis of the safety of Smolensk Nuclear Power Plant

Smolensk NPP constitutes a complex production mechanism operated, repaired and managed by its personnel. Safety is the key priority of the plant. That’s why each employee should comply with the requirements of his position. Smolensk NPP has a Personnel Management Service – a department responsible for the professional and psychological preparedness of the personnel. The Service carries out the following activities:

selecting and recruiting personnel;
training and retraining personnel;
ensuring the psycho-physical preparedness of personnel;
enhancing the competence of executives;
developing and controlling measures for use of social factors for enhancement of production efficiency.

One of the key divisions of the Personnel Management Service is the Training Center. Smolensk NPP has the license of the Education Committee of the Administration of Smolensk region for carrying out educational activities. The Center has a full-scale simulator of the control board of unit 2, which helps it greatly in training operators.

In order to raise the quality of personnel training the plant:

conducts regular meetings with colleagues from other nuclear power plants;
uses information about incidents at Rosenergoatom and foreignpower plants;the of Smolensk region for carrying out educational ac NPPs in its manuals;
Smolensk NPP takes active part in international projects and cooperates with British, German and American NPPs.

The management of Smolensk NPP applies individual approach in personnel training. The Psycho-Physical Support Department works with each employee cultivating in him safety culture and preparing him for effectively responding to emergency once it happens. The department carries out the following activities:

ensures the personnel’s efficiency and psychological preparedness for safe operation;
protects the health of the personnel;
analyzes the psychological causes of incorrect actions.

Despite importance of technological safety, human factor will always be the focus of the plant’s attention.

There are two components of efficient and safe operation: technological component: high quality of all technological processes and human component: efficient and safe work of personnel due to high qualification and high safety culture.

The Training Center of Smolensk NPP was set up in Sept 1987. Initially, it was the only department responsible for personnel training. In 2001 Smolensk NPP set up a personnel management service. Presently, the center has 31 instructors who train personnel, enhance their qualification, organize regular exercise, work out methodologies and instructions. Since 1991 the plant’s operators have been trained on a full-scale simulator. In 2001 Rosatomnadzor of Russia (Federal Atomic Control Agency) granted the personnel of Smolensk NPP a license for working in the field of use of nuclear energy.

The highly-qualified specialists of the Psycho-Physiological Support Department examine personnel when they are first employed and when they are transferred to other positions.

The analysis has shown that no every person can be an NPP operator. The Psycho-Physical Support Department works with each employee cultivating in him safety culture and preparing him for effectively responding to emergency once it happens.

In order to preserve the health of the personnel (health not as lack of diseases and physical defects but as state of complete physical, psychological and social welfare), the plant’s psychologists and physiologists teach them health lifestyle, rational adequate behavior, consistency. They give lectures on "Stress Control," "Psychic Self-Regulation" and other subjects.

The specialists of the department take part in the analysis of incidents and the management considers their recommendations when appointing one or another person to one or another position.

Human factor is the key prerequisite of the plant’s safety. Smolensk NPP employs over 6,500 people. Each of them has their own character but all them them have one thing in common – they all seek to work safely. Over 800 people have worked at the plant for 20 years and all of them can say: "I launched the first unit but I am still working at the plant." Over 600 of them have been awarded orders and medals, dozens of them have risen from ordinary worker to manager. 46% of the employees have higher or high specialized education. Every year the plant employs 30-40 university graduates. The plant seeks to rejuvenate its personnel, including chief executives.