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The power plant comprises four VVER-1000 units that started up in 1984, 1986, 2004 and 2011. It was visited for 18 days by the ten-member Operational Safety Review Team (OSART), made up of experts from the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Slovakia, South Africa, Sweden, the UK, the USA and the IAEA.

The review covered the areas of leadership and management for safety, training and qualification, operations, maintenance, technical support, operating experience, radiation protection, chemistry, and accident management. Team leader Ronan Cavellec of the IAEA said, “The OSART team witnessed a strong commitment to safety by plant management and staff.”

Two good practices at Kalinin were highlighted by the IAEA: Rosenergoatom “strengthens stress management and decision-making skills of staff by involving two psychologists during severe accident management exercises”; it also “promotes safety culture among all personnel by encouraging staff to act as ‘safety culture ambassadors’ who proactively communicate and seek feedback on safety related topics.”

The plant should also make some improvements, the IAEA said. The team noted that the plant’s operating experience programme should enhance the identification of root causes of events and the verification of the effectiveness of corrective actions to prevent their recurrence. It should consider improving the preventative maintenance arrangements for important non-safety equipment. The plant should also consider enhancing its practices for equipment labelling.