The first-year Turkish students of the Atomic Energy Institute of the National Researh Nuclear University MEPhI (NRNU MEPhI) visited Kalinin NPP in Tver Oblast (Russia). The group of journalists of Anadolu, big Turkish news agency also visited the plant together with the students. The Project Company AKKUYU NPP JSC was an organizer of the visit.

After coming to Udomlya, satellite town of Kalinin NPP, the students went to the training control panel of the plant. The deputy head for training affairs of the training control panel (TCP), Vyacheslav Efrushkin, gave them a tour. He explained that the full-scale simulator of Kalinin NPP Unit 4 was put into action in December 2012. It fully replicates the control panel installed at the operating nuclear power unit. The main goal of application is efficient provision of the NPP safe operation. “The large-scale efforts have been made to establish the control panel. Such a panel is a mandatory condition for operation of any modern hi-tech production. The task of the TCP is to train and maintain qualification of the nuclear power plant operating stuff” – Vyacheslav Efrushkin said. 

After the tour to the TCP a student, Sinem Gonulol, gave an interview to a journalist of Anadolu Turkish news agency. In her interview she said: “We are very glad that our future activities will be related to hi-tech equipment, and our profession will be in demand in Turkey. As of today our country suffers electric power deficit, and the nuclear energy will help to decrease it and reduce dependence of the state from the import of hydrocarbons”.

After the visit to the TCP the students went right to Kalinin NPP. Their guide told them that Unit 1 was commissioned in 1984, and in 2014 the plant will celebrate its thirty year jubilee. The plant plays a significant role in economic development of the central region of Russia. The NPP generates 70% of the Tver Oblast electric power. At the plant the students from Turkey visited the reactor room, turbine building of Unit 3, unit pump stations, turbines, control panel of Unit 3, mobile back-up diesel-generators. They demonstrated keen interest in everything during the tour. They asked about the number of the plant employees, environmental impact of the NPP, principles of operation of the power unit safety systems, sensors of the Automated Radiation Situation Monitoring System (ARSMS), technical characteristics and features of Russian-design WWER type reactors. There were no complicated topics for Tatiana Smirnova, and the students received clear and professional answers to all their questions.

After visiting the primary facilities of the plant the group of students went to the Public Information Center (PIC) of Kalinin NPP, where they familiarized with the show dedicated to the nuclear industry. The real fuel assembly located in the center of the show caught the most students’ attention. They made pictures with the exhibit and asked a lot of questions.

Tatiana Smirnova attracted attention of the Turkish students to the fact, that the plant met all standards and requirements of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). And independent ecological organizations monitored the environment around the NPP in on-line mode by special sensors, and anyone could find their indications in the Internet. It was news for them that the all-Russia fishing championships were annually arranging at the NPP cooling ponds hosting sportsmen from the whole Russia. And Kalinin NPP arranged the All-Russia fishing championship at its cooling pond in 2013. “Tver Oblast is famous for its fish farms. Fishes play an important role in the ecological system of water bodies. And you could see that vicinity of the NPP does not bother of and influence on the water fauna forms”, said Tatiana Smirnova. The students were informed that after the tragedy in Japan stress-tests had been conducted, which have proved absolute safety of the power units towards the environment. And additional equipment has been purchased and installed at the plant for any contingencies.

After the tour to the PIC Mikail Uksekler shared his opinion about what they saw: “Today for the first time in our lives we’ve seen the operating NPP. Unforgettable impressions and we’ll keep them for the whole life. There is nothing frightening in the nuclear power plant. In its vicinity people are living, fishing championships are being arranged, and frankly speaking that puzzled me. The Russian atomic engineering technologies are leading in the world. I would like that everyone be convinced in the nuclear energy benefits and personally visited NPP”.