For more than two years, Energoatom has been a member of the Paris Center of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO PC), which provides for active cooperation under various programs of the Association. To date, 6 employees of Energoatom have been delegated for these activities organized by Paris Center. These are experienced technicians from Ukrainian nuclear power plants who have passed the selection process and received the status of secondees.
Secondees are industry experts who are not permanent employees of the Paris Center, but they have been seconded from their plant or company according to the contract, usually for 2-3 years. Such specialists should work out the best world practices of NPP operation, analyze international experience and share it during peer reviews at the NPPs.
Our interlocutor is an engineer from the South Ukraine NPP Arkadii Vtoroi, who has been working as a secondee at the WANO Paris Center since September 2023. He began his professional journey as a nuclear engineer at the SUNPP, Safety Analysis Service, after graduation from Odesa Polytechnic University in 2010. He gained valuable experience in engineering work, which is very helpful in his current activities.
- Arkadii, what was your path to get work at the WANO Paris Center?
- It happened that my first interaction with WANO took place when I was still a young specialist. After graduating as a nuclear engineer, I started working in Safety Analysis Service. After the accident at the Japanese Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, our service worked on the implementation of new safety systems, in particular, the in-containment hydrogen passive recombination system. The SUNPP was one of the first in Ukraine for beyond design-basis accidents. At that time, a WANO Support Mission related to that safety system was being conducted at the RNPP, and I was appointed as a representative from SUNPP to share experience.
After that, I took part in the youth movement of WANO, the purpose of which was to familiarize young professionals with the work of the Association. We were trained in inspection methodology and involved in support missions at various nuclear power plants. Together with experts, we participated in tours, interviews, etc. That's how I got my first experience. In 2021, I was invited to a team of experts for a peer review of the French Cattenom NPP in the field of “Engineering”. When Energoatom began to cooperate with the Paris Center, I was offered to become a secondee - and I agreed.
- In order to obtain the status of secondee, perhaps, is there a need go through certain stages?
- Definitely. How it happens: Energoatom sends a list of candidates to the Paris Center. There they study the history and experience of each specialist, and choose those who meet the requirements. The next stage is the assessment of the level of English. This shall be done by an independent school in Paris through an online test, written and oral interviews. After the final interview with the WANO NPP management, a decision shall be made to sign the contract.
- Was the language test difficult for you or vice versa?
- I had to work. However, my previous work helped, because in Safety Analysis Service I worked with thermo-hydraulic calculations, using computer codes given to us by the USA in due time. All instructions and documentation were also in English. Therefore, technical English terminology had to be studied even at that time. When I chose the career of a secondee, I was seriously preparing for the interview, studying with a tutor three times a week for 2-3 hours. Therefore, I demonstrated a high level. Now I communicate in English in a quite practiced way. For most of the colleagues who work in the office of the Paris Center, English is not their native language. As for Ukrainians, we speak it no worse than others do.
- Where do secondees work when they are not on missions at the NPPs?
- In the Paris Center, all secondees, except for Ukrainians, move to Paris for the duration of the contract, which is 2 or 3 years, those who want – with their families, and they work in the office, if they are not on a business trip. Their companies pay salaries and accommodation. However, Ukraine is now at war, so Ukrainian specialists work online outside of business trips. Because of that, it is a little more difficult for us, but these are our realities.
- How busy is the mission schedule, are personal wishes taken into account?
- The schedule is quite busy. A mission schedule is prepared for us for every year, and we have the opportunity to adjust it somewhat. Of course, force majeure events can occur. Thus, my previous mission was planned for the Spanish Asko NPP, but I was asked to replace my colleague in the mission at another NPP. The workload varies from year to year because it depends on the planned events. Usually these are several peer reviews and 1-2 follow-up missions, workshops and benchmarking. We also work under a new program of enhanced monitoring, which provides for visiting the sites 2-4 times a year and constant interaction with the plants. Therefore, we are like “critical” friends who ask, monitor and help. The Paris Center borrowed this practice from the Atlantic Center to support nuclear power plants and increase their performance. I work with the Loviisa NPP (Finland) and the Temelin NPP (Czech Republic) in this direction.
- Perhaps, do you have a dream to be assigned for business trip to a certain plant, to visit somewhere?
- I have had a desire to visit other plants besides the French ones next year. After all, for the entire period of training or mission I worked only at French nuclear power plants. In February, I was at the Golfech NPP (instead of the Spanish one). For September, a follow-up mission is planned – also at the French plant, Civaux NPP. The review of engineering at French plants is a significant challenge. At those plants, a great share of engineering work is performed not by the plant, but by special centralized divisions. In addition, French missions are combined with internal inspections, which further complicates the work due to the large number of experts involved and slightly different review objectives. Moreover, there is a nuance: in France, English is not very popular, so we work with help of a translator. In other countries, English is more common, so you can communicate with colleagues directly, which makes interaction easier and faster.
Do I want to visit a certain plant? For now, I have enough new impressions. I have recently visited Finland for the first time – the Loviisa NPP. Before that, I was for the first time in the Czech Republic – at the Temelin NPP. Every plant, every country is interesting for me, it is a new experience.
- The mission at the French Golfech NPP, in February of this year, was for you as a secondee first plant. How did it turn out for you?
- Generally positively. However, it was also a certain challenge. Usually, on his/her first mission, a secondee works in a specified area in a pair with an experienced colleague, so that the newcomer “in the field” sees everything and the next time he already conducts the review on his own. That's what I had planned, the first mission was to be conducted at the Spanish Asko NPP. But I had to go to the Golfech NPP instead of my colleague who did not have time to issue a visa. Therefore, I gained my first experience not as a newcomer, but immediately as a leader of the “Engineering” area. Moreover, in our team was Oleksii Popov from the RNPP, it was also his first experience as a secondee.
Peer reviews are all supposedly the same – methodology, plan, and general schedule. However, plants and people are different. The relationship you will build with your team and with counterparts from the plant, the level of NPP openness – this is of great importance. At the Golfech NPP, the level was good, and so was the relationship.
- How helpful is your work experience at the NPP?
- The experience gained at the NPP certainly helps me, but it is necessary to prepare carefully for each review, analyze the documents provided by the plants, the indicators, the events that took place. At those nuclear power plants where I have been, power units have the same basic technology as ours: pressurized water. However, equipment, circuits, safety systems, labelling, names, etc. are completely different. Even with regard to engineering support, organizational approaches are somewhat different in Ukraine and Europe. However, if a person has a good base and knows his specific area, these differences are not critical for understanding the situation at the plant.
- How would you describe the WANO mission regarding nuclear plants?
– WANO conducts review at each NPP according to best operational practices compared to a conditional ideal plant. Therefore, a WANO mission is about how to achieve an ideal state from the point of view of safety and existing standards.
- And how do your colleagues in the Paris Center react to the occupation of the Zaporizhzhia NPP, russian attacks on Ukrainian power plants?
- As for the war, they ask about that all the time. Colleagues are interested in what we did when there were blackouts, when rockets hit our power grid, and when the generation was destroyed. However, all these issues are very individual and depend on a specific person. In general, there is support and understanding of the situation from the management and most of the colleagues. Some of them, for example, have a vyshyvanka and wear it in the office as they wish, demonstrating their own position. It is worth to mention that the interaction between the WANO Paris Center of the WANO moscow center has dropped to almost zero.
- Why is it important for Energoatom that Ukrainian nuclear employees take part in WANO activities, become secondees?
- I think that it is not only important, it is necessary. Regarding the personal growth of employees, awareness, learning of experience. Support missions, benchmarking contribute to the improvement of work at the sites, within the Company. Staff are able to adopt positive new practices and develop leadership – this is extremely important. From the Company's point of view, we, as part of the civilized world, should take an active part in these activities, because Ukraine has been a nuclear state for many years. And if we want to continue – it is necessary to develop the nuclear industry, build power units, we must be on trend, show that we operate nuclear plants safely and reliably, that we can be trusted with new technologies, new reactors, including modular ones, because we have considerable experience. In addition, this will be a guarantee and a strong argument during the construction of new power units, such an image indicator. Moreover, we have to show our achievements to others, because we have a lot to learn, especially now.
- Can you outline the meaning of this work for you personally?
- First of all, this is an opportunity for personal development. I have improved my English. I addition, now we are learning French. The brain is constantly working. Yes, that is a little stressful, but it develops professional skills not only in my area – engineering, because during peer reviews and other activities, we see the whole picture, we are not just focused on a certain area. Therefore, this is a good opportunity to enhance knowledge about operations, maintenance, and management. Thus, if a person has a desire for further individual development and getting more knowledge, this is a good opportunity. Nevertheless, there is a need to be ready to work a lot. In the future, I would like to see the development of nuclear power industry in Ukraine and be a direct participant in such a development.
