A working visit of representatives of the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) and the Embassy of the Kingdom of Sweden in Ukraine took place at the Rivne NPP. The delegation got acquainted with the results of the implementation of equipment and software transferred to the Rivne NPP within the financial assistance provided by the Government of Sweden.
On July 01, 2014, at the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine, representatives of the regulatory authorities of Ukraine, Sweden and Norway signed a Joint Statement in the field of nuclear safety and security, which became the basis of the tripartite initiative of the Scandinavian countries in support of Ukraine. Since then, Energoatom's partnership with the Scandinavian countries has continued. The Rivne NPP was the first among Ukrainian nuclear power plants to join the mentioned program; this plant has been implementing joint projects aimed at enhancing security of the energy sector since then.
Within the framework of the international technical assistance provided by the governments of Norway and Sweden, the RNPP receives up-to-date equipment, software products and training programs that contribute to strengthening the Ukrainian energy sector under conditions of russian aggression. The main goal of this assistance remains unchanged: support for projects that improve safety and resilience of Ukrainian nuclear power plants.
Today, the RNPP departments actively use new equipment. In particular, in September of this year, Safety Analysis Service (SAS) received six modern powerful computers to accelerate the implementation of safety justification tasks.
During the visit, representatives of the delegation visited the RNPP SAS. Head of SAS Probabilistic Safety Assessment Department, Volodymyr Nevmerzhytskyi, spoke about the progress of implementing RiskSpectrum and RiskWatcher software.
“RiskSpectrum software is used at most nuclear power plants in the world. Currently, all probabilistic models for four RNPP units have already been switched to RiskSpectrum. This has significantly expanded the capabilities of probabilistic safety assessment. The tool facilitates periodic safety reassessment, assess the impact of operational events and modernization activities. We are also implementing a risk monitor based on RiskWatcher for Units 1 and 2; this allows personnel to assess current risks and make risk-based decisions. Up to date, the models have been developed, the documentation is ready, the personnel has been trained, and the documents are undergoing state expertise at the SSTC NRS. Once we receive approval of the developed materials by the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate, we will start pilot operation operation,” commented Volodymyr Nevmerzhytskyi.
Rivne NPP Director General, Taras Tkach, said that during the partnership with the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority, a number of critical projects had been implemented not only for the RNPP, but also for the entire nuclear industry of Ukraine. In particular, with the support by the Swedish regulator, a certification body for operational non-destructive testing systems for NPP equipment and pipelines was established, and the appropriate equipment has been provided as well.
“During the last meeting, we inspected the equipment and RiskWatcher software, provided with the support of the Swedish government. The tools developed based on this software allow for more effective planning of the plant equipment taking out of service for repair, which is important when switching to an 18-month fuel cycle. In cooperation with the Swedish side, we outlined further steps of cooperation. We express our sincere gratitude to the government and people of Sweden for their continued support, which is extremely important for Ukraine today,” emphasized Taras Tkach, Rivne NPP Director General.
SSM Director General, Mikael Knochenhauer, also emphasized the importance of the Swedish-Ukrainian partnership and continued support for Ukraine.
