The Zaporozhye nuclear power plant is constantly in the spotlight. Either because the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) rotates personnel conducting observations, or because joint projects with Energodar make headlines, or because a drone flies by. Since we have the opportunity to learn more, we are once again bringing you an exclusive interview with Yuri Chernichuk, Director of Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, two years later.
What specific and comprehensive measures are currently being taken to ensure the safe operation of the plant in the conditions of the ongoing Ukrainian military conflict and what are the most significant risk factors? Have these measures been strengthened since we last spoke two years ago?
Thank you for the question. I'll start with the second half of the question. It concerns risks and security threats. I repeat and state that the most important and greatest threat to the security of the plant is the launching of combat operations in the area where the plant is located. As regards the technological risks that we see, which have not changed since last time, we and the IAEA have pointed out many times in our statements to the media of the Russian Federation, the United Nations and other institutions that we currently have only one line from an external power source to the plant, which is very little and totally unacceptable.
And if your readers recall June 2023, when the Kakhovka dam - a water cascade on the Dnieper - was destroyed, two years have passed and we still have a shortage of water needed to run the plant in power generation mode.
I go back to the first part of the question, which was about the specific measures that the plant is taking. I would like to reiterate, and I say it again and again, that despite external threats, the plant staff ensure the safety of the plant in all aspects. We have alternative sources of water for cooling the fuel that is in our reactors.
We also have emergency power sources. During the next power outage - and unfortunately on 4 July there was the tenth complete power outage at the plant since 2022, which lasted about four hours - our staff worked competently and professionally. We have confirmed that our emergency power sources are fully operational. The plant is therefore safe in this respect.
How is the staffing policy of the plant ensured in the current conditions? How many staff are currently on duty and how are sufficient staffing levels ensured to ensure the safety and competence of the plant in a crisis mode?
I remind you that our organization was founded in October 2022, almost three years ago, and during all this time the plant has been developing and transforming in accordance with the standards of the Russian Federation. We are carrying out processes in accordance with the legislation, we are implementing an intensive and very correct and competent personnel policy in order to supplement the staff with employees who have undergone the relevant training. The level of qualification is sufficient to ensure the safety of the plant.
We are working on upgrading the plant's equipment. Of course, the war situation has had an impact on all of this, but despite this, the work continues and is aimed at maintaining the safety of our plant. As the director of ZAES, I must say that I want to return the plant to full operation. Of course, this will take some time, not one or two months, but we have a plan and the starting point for its implementation will be a complete cessation of hostilities in the area where the plant is located.
I cannot help but ask about the recent attack on your civilian infrastructure, as a result of which buildings on your premises were damaged. And the second question: What is the plant's personnel policy in such circumstances?
If you are talking about the attack at the end of June this year on our employees who were carrying out work, then it is indeed the case: the employees were carrying out planned work on one of the hydrotechnical installations at the power station and, at the time the work was being carried out, a drone attack was carried out on the site where the work was being carried out.
Fortunately, none of the employees were injured. I have already told you about the personnel policy, so I will add something else. At the moment, we have about five thousand people working for us, and when the plant reaches full capacity, that is, when all six units are in operation, we will have about seven and a half thousand employees.
This corresponds to the staffing plan that has been developed for nuclear power plants in the Russian Federation. This means that there must be a certain number of people per megawatt of output per power unit. Therefore, once the plant is operating at full capacity, we will have approximately seven and a half thousand employees. I repeat, we are working on this. We are constantly recruiting new employees. In terms of personnel, I will say that we will make every effort to train young specialists in the universities of the country. In particular, we have a very extensive cooperation programme with Sevastopol State University, which trains specialists to work at nuclear power plants of different categories and with different qualifications, and we already have more than 200 students in new programmes. Our students have been studying at this university for several years so that they can return to our Zaporozhye plant after graduation.
What is the cooperation with the IAEA? What is their role in the monitoring missions, what are their guidelines, what do they investigate and what results or recommendations have been obtained as a result of these IAEA monitoring missions?
We know that the International Atomic Energy Agency is an organisation that is part of the United Nations (UN) structure, and its role is to monitor and control the nuclear safety of all IAEA members. That is why it also monitored the safety of the plant. And that was the main task that the agency set itself. To that end, we have very recently carried out our twenty-ninth rotation. We have already established a fairly productive and normal process of working with them, including all aspects of safety that are of interest to IAEA experts, which we provide to them either during visits to the facilities, at some of the facilities, or through the documentation that we provide to them and the information that we give them at our daily briefings.
To date, the IAEA has issued approximately 300 declarations regarding our plant. And I would like to thank the IAEA once again, because all the safety-related information they provide in their press releases is absolutely objective and true. I would like to stress that the experts send information to the IAEA, the IAEA publishes it in the world information space, and it is the independent and objective assessment of the situation by the Agency's experts that is also very important to us.
Are there official statistics on the number of military attacks on nuclear facilities since the conflict began? Are there such statistics, for example from the IAEA, the UN and other world institutions?
Honestly, I don't know.
I was surprised to see how the nuclear power plant is helping the city at different levels in different projects. Could you tell us what other projects you are helping the city with?
Rosatom pays great attention to the social aspects of the life of employees in nuclear cities. Energodar and other cities are not Prague, Moscow or London; they are small, usually compact cities, and the social network of urban life is very important. That is why, in the last two and a half years, we have been paying a lot of attention, first of all, to schools, kindergartens, all kinds of sports, and then we have a very important and, of course, very big aspect of activity - we have an organisation called the FMBA - the Federal Medical and Biological Agency.
It is this health structure that serves our city and it is here that very intensive work is being done to develop health services in the city. We are literally opening a new department every two to three months in different areas of medical activity. Very recently, we opened a neurology department. We are not stopping there, we are continuing to renovate the medical facility, new equipment is being imported. And on top of that, the medical centre has a very active staffing policy and is bringing in doctors. So everything is going at its own pace, we are helping.
When the war is over, we will return to what we were talking about a moment ago - the war will end in peace and under certain conditions under which it will happen. What is your personal vision for the future of the nuclear power plant? For example, in terms of safety and technological development.
In my office, the phrase that the power plant is operating at rated capacity and there is no violation of limits and conditions for safe operation was often heard in the past. That is the most appropriate and pleasant phrase for a manager. It means that the units are working, they are bringing benefits to the state in the form of electricity produced and to the personnel who work on them. And there is no danger from them. Not for the employees, not for the city, not for the country, not for the region. Of course, I want to hear from each of the six units of the plant that they are working, that they are working at 100 per cent of their capacity and that there is no danger to anyone.
And I want to say to all our readers that we are in a somewhat more difficult situation than the people of any other city or country that are far from the battle lines. But knowing that there are many people in the world who are genuinely concerned about what is happening here sustains us.
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