Pre-commissioning personnel inspection has begun at the first power unit of the Akkuyu NPP under construction in Turkey. Experts will deliberately create emergency situations on the simulator, including simulating equipment failures, and assess how correctly operators act in such conditions.
The scheduled peer review is conducted by the Moscow Center of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO-MC). Specialists will assess the professional knowledge and skills of the operators of power unit No. 1's control room.
A full-scale simulator is used for the inspection, which models situations as close to real ones as possible. The personnel will have to work through three controlled scenarios. Experts will assess whether Akkuyu specialists are capable of correctly managing the power unit and responding to simulated equipment failures.
As Sergey Butskikh, General Director of Akkuyu Nuclear JSC, noted, the WANO inspection is an important stage in preparing the plant for launch. Experts must assess the readiness of operational personnel to work in various modes, including deviations from normal operation and equipment failures. The main criterion will be compliance with nuclear safety principles.
Akkuyu NPP is being built in Turkey by the Rosatom State Corporation and will be the country's first nuclear power plant. It includes four power units with Russian VVER generation 3+ reactors.
The capacity of each power unit will be 1200 MW. Earlier it was reported that electricity production at the first power unit is planned to begin before the end of this year.