On 14 December, VSU students took part in a tour of the Novovoronezh branch of the Rosatom Technical Academy. Over 50 first and second year students from the Faculty of Romance and Germanic Philology and the Department of Nuclear Physics of the Faculty of Physics of VSU accompanied by some lectures took part in the event.
Today, Rosatom has over 300,000 employees, it is represented in 30 countries around the world, and has a large portfolio of international projects, which involve the construction of nuclear power plants. It is obvious that such large-scale tasks require a well-established system of personnel training. The students’ tour of the Novovoronezh branch is one of the elements of this system. In 2022, the branch significantly expanded the range of provided educational services. Today, both operators of nuclear power plants in Russia and abroad and the maintenance personnel complete trainings in the company’s training centre. Unique simulators in the centre can be used not only by nuclear power specialists but also representatives of other industries. In the nearest future, Rosneft specialists are expected to complete a programme there.
One of the aspects of the company’s training ecosystem is cooperation with VSU, which has been going on for 20 years. This year, the Novovoronezh centre started to train students and contributed to the opening of the Fundamental Department of Operation of Nuclear Power Plants with Pressurized Water Power Reactors at the university.
Future colleagues (the Technical Academy needs young personnel) were met by the management. Andrey Solntsev, Vice-Rector and Director of the branch, gave a presentation in which he described the tasks of the Academy and the equipment available at the organisation. Students were shown a full-scale VVER-1200 simulator, an exact copy of the block control panel of the power unit, which is a prototype of the Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant. The students asked many questions: how long the training on the simulator lasts, how operators manage to simultaneously keep track of all the incoming information, how the staff members interact with each other, and what must be done if there is an accident. The functions of a multifunctional simulator, whose virtual controls resemble a huge computer, seemed pretty apprehensible to students. However, this is far from being the case: it uses unique software that allows conducting a comparative analysis of nuclear power plant projects and providing training in various power units both in Russian and in English.
Both parents of Natalia Samodeenko, a second year student, work at a nuclear power plant. The student has already decided to work in the nuclear energy industry when she graduates:
“I think it’s interesting. You need to study loads of documentation. And this is just the beginning. We were told that if you make mistakes on the simulator, you have to have a feedback session.”
Some unique simulators have been put into operation just recently: simulators of the equipment used in the electrical shops of innovative units and a simulator allowing locating leaks in the operating environment. This modern technical equipment used to train maintenance personnel was shown to the students and lecturers. For example, they had a chance to study in detail and even take photos of a simulator of confined spaces. Again, they asked a lot of questions: Can people be injured if they make mistakes when training on this electrical equipment? How can a fault be found when there are so many wires? The staff of the Technical Academy have extensive experience of working at nuclear power plants, so these questions did not take them by surprise.
The Centre of Information Systems, which provides support of training at the Novovoronezh branch, is currently working in several areas: development of information systems, electronic courses and training systems, and graphic materials and educational posters. Its goal is to make the further education of nuclear power specialists more visual and informative. The heads of departments demonstrated their achievements. A VR simulator created at the department of graphic materials was of greatest interest among the students, who had an opportunity to check it out.
“When I put VR glasses on, I felt I was in a totally different reality. It felt weird. Of course, I don’t understand many things now, but I would like to study here,” said a first year student Sergey Kolyshkin.
The goal of the Rosatom educational ecosystem is to prepare specialists who will work in the nuclear industry from an early age. However, today's students are quite practical. That is why at the end of the meeting Tatiana Ibragimova, Head of the Human Resource Management Department, explained the employment criteria and told the students about salaries and social benefits.
“It was an unusual experience for my students who study linguistics and translation, to find themselves in the centre of nuclear technologies,” said Larisa Kuzmina, Head of the Department of Translation and Professional Communication at VSU. “But today, we got a clear understanding what translators have to deal with when working in the nuclear industry. It was pleasing to see that the management is interested in employing young specialists.”
“Thank you for the warm welcome,” said Larisa Titova, Head of the Department of Nuclear Physics at VSU.
The management of the Technical Academy and lecturers understand that today the industry needs a variety of personnel: managers, engineers, operators, welders, and mechanics. These professions are vital to solve tasks set by Rosatom, especially taking into consideration the fact that two new power units, the eighth and the ninth, are expected to be launched at the Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant by 2036.
Voronezh State University belongs to the consortium of flagship universities of Rosatom state corporation, which was created to coordinate activities in higher, postgraduate, vocational education, and research beneficiary to the atomic industry. Graduating from a university that belongs to the consortium can provide students with an opportunity to be employed by the state corporation and its subsidiaries.
Text: Oksana Tupitsyna, Communications specialist of
the Novovoronezh branch (ANO DPO Technical Academy of Rosatom)
