The Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant is constantly in the spotlight. Either because the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) rotates its observation staff there, or because joint projects with Energodar appear on the front pages of newspapers, or because an unmanned aerial vehicle flies by. Since we have the opportunity to learn more, after two years we are bringing you an exclusive interview with the director of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, Yuri Chernichuk.
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 our last interview two years ago?
Thank you for the question. I will 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 safety of the plant is the start of combat operations in the area where the plant is located. As for the technological risks that we see and that have not changed since last time, we and the IAEA have repeatedly pointed out 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 energy source to the power plant, which is very little and absolutely unacceptable.
And if your readers remember June 2023, when the Kakhovsky Dam – a water cascade on the Dnieper – was destroyed, two years have already passed and we still have a shortage of water needed to operate the power plant in power generation mode.
I return to the first part of the question, which concerned the specific measures that the power plant is taking. I would like to repeat once again, and I say this all the time, that despite external threats, the power plant personnel ensure the safety of the power 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 another power outage – and unfortunately, on July 4, the tenth complete power outage at the power plant since 2022, which lasted about four hours – our personnel worked competently and professionally. We confirmed that our emergency power sources are fully operational. In this regard, the power plant is safe.
How is the personnel policy of the power plant ensured in the current conditions? How many employees are currently on duty and how is a sufficient number of employees ensured to ensure the safety and competence of the power plant in crisis mode?
I would like to remind you that our organization was founded in October 2022, that is, almost three years ago, and during all this time the power plant has been developing and transforming in accordance with the standards of the Russian Federation. We carry out processes in accordance with the legislation, we conduct an intensive and very correct and competent personnel policy in order to replenish the staff with employees who have undergone appropriate training. The level of qualification is sufficient to ensure the safety of the power plant.
We are working on the modernization of the power plant equipment. Of course, all this is influenced by the war situation, but despite this, the work continues and is aimed at maintaining the safety of our power plant. As the director of ZAES, I must say that I want to return the power plant to full operational mode. Of course, it will take some time, it will not be one or two months, but we have a plan and the starting point for its implementation will be the complete cessation of hostilities in the area where the power plant is located.
I cannot help but ask about the recent attack on your civilian infrastructure, as a result of which the buildings of your facility were damaged. And the second question: What is the personnel policy of the power plant in such conditions?
If you are talking about the attack at the end of June of this year on our employees who were carrying out work, then this is indeed the case: the employees were carrying out planned work on one of the hydrotechnical facilities of the power plant, and at the moment of carrying out work on the site where it was being carried out, an attack was carried out from unmanned aircraft.
Fortunately, none of the employees were injured. I have already told you about the personnel policy, so I will add something more. Currently, 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 personnel plan that was created for nuclear power plants in the Russian Federation. This means that a certain number of people must be employed for one megawatt of power of one power unit. So, when the plant starts operating at full capacity, we will have about seven and a half thousand employees. I repeat, we are working on this. We are constantly recruiting new employees. As for personnel, I will say that we will make every effort to train young specialists at universities in the country. In particular, we have a very extensive cooperation program with Sevastopol State University, which trains specialists for work at nuclear power plants of various categories and with various qualifications, and we already have more than 200 students in new programs. Our students have been studying at this university for several years, so that after graduation
What is the cooperation with the IAEA? What is their role in monitoring missions, what are their main directions, 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 organization that is part of the United Nations (UN) structure, and its role is to monitor and control the provision of nuclear safety to all IAEA members. That is why it also monitored the safety of the power plant. And that was the main task that the agency set itself. For this purpose, we have just recently carried out the twenty-ninth rotation. We already have a fairly productive and normal process of cooperation with them, including all aspects of safety that interest IAEA experts, which we provide to them either during visits to the facilities, at some of them, or through the documentation that we provide to them and the information that we give to them at our daily briefings.
To date, the IAEA has issued approximately 300 statements regarding our power plant. And I would like to thank the IAEA once again, because all the information regarding safety that they provide in their press releases is absolutely objective and truthful. I would like to emphasize that experts send information to the IAEA, the IAEA publishes it in the world information space, and it is precisely the independent and objective assessment of the situation by the agency’s experts that is also very important for us.
Are there official statistics on the number of military attacks on a nuclear facility since the beginning of the conflict? 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 helps the city at different levels in various projects. Could you tell us in what other projects you help the city?
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 city life is very important. That is why in the last two and a half years we have been paying great attention, first of all, to schools, kindergartens, all kinds of sports, and then we have a very important and, of course, very large aspect of activity – we have an organization called FMBA – Federal Medical Biological Agency.
It is this medical structure that serves our city and it is here that very intensive work is being carried out on the development of medical services in the city. Literally every two to three months we open new departments in various areas of medical activity. Quite recently we opened a neurological department. We are not stopping there, the repair of the medical facility continues, new equipment is being imported. And in addition, the medical center conducts a very active personnel policy and brings doctors here. 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 with peace and under certain conditions under which this will happen. What is your personal vision of 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, there are no violations of the limits and conditions of safe operation was often heard. This is the most convenient and pleasant phrase for the head. It means that the units are operating, they bring benefits to both the state in the form of generated electricity and to the personnel working on them. And they pose no danger. Neither to the employees, nor to the city, nor to the country, nor to the region. Of course, I want to hear about each of the six power plant units that they are operating, that they are operating at 100 percent of their capacity and that they pose no threat to anyone.
And I want to tell all our readers that we are in a somewhat more difficult situation than the residents of any other city or country that is far from the front line. But the knowledge that there are many people in the world who are sincerely concerned about what is happening here supports us.
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