The specialists of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant visited the Smolensk NPP to study the best practices in operations engineering support. The visit of the Armenian specialists took place in the framework of the experience exchange program of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO). The WANO mission is to improve the safety level of NPPs worldwide through exchange of operating experience and best practice.

The Armenian specialists have studied the Smolensk NPP practices in management of temporary modifications, configuration control, units operation monitoring, application of probabilistic safety analysis (PSA), control of changes in functional organization of operations engineering support management. They visited the turbine and reactor halls of the operating unit, the main control room (MCR), as well as the MCR full-scope simulator room where the operating personnel training is conducted.

"We had requested the WANO Moscow Centre to organize an exchange visit to get to know how the operations engineering support is functioning at one of the Russian NPPs. They recommended us the Smolensk NPP, since, in their opinion, the engineering support was at a high level here. We saw that it was really the case. The nuclear power specialists of the Smolensk NPP have a lot of good practices that we would like to implement at our enterprise", - noted the Head of Nuclear Safety and Reliability Department of the Armenian NPP Oleg Grigoryan.

As emphasized by the Deputy Chief Engineer of the Smolensk NPP Oleg Kuzhaniyazov, the engineering support has a significant impact on the safety of units operation. "The operations engineering support is a very wide field of activity. It includes such areas as supervision of testing, technical diagnostics, analysis of the impact on safety of the equipment operation modes, reactor core control and many other aspects important for the NPP operation", - he added.

As stated by the Deputy Chief Engineer on Operation of the Armenian NPP Ashot Ordubekyan Russia and Armenia are closely cooperating in the area of peaceful atom development. "The Armenian NPP is the only nuclear power plant in the Caucasus. We are currently operating Unit 2, which supplies about 40% of electricity consumed in Armenia. At our plant under the support of Russia we are now implementing activities aimed at extension of the operating unit life for 10 years - till 2026. In the framework of this project we are to perform a large scope of work which will also involve the engineering support system of the plant. We have seen a lot of things at the Smolensk NPP and I think this information will be useful for formation of an optimum engineering support group at our company". In particular, among the good practices the Armenian specialists highlighted the ЕSОМS automated information system used at the Smolensk NPP which allows to maintain electronically the whole required operating documentation, as well as to implement the principles of management of temporary modifications.

The Head of the ANPP Nuclear Safety and Reliability Department Oleg Grigoryan emphasized the need for maintaining a permanent contact with the experts of the nuclear community. "The nuclear power industry is developing, new techniques and approaches are implemented at NPPs. The more frequently such an experience exchange takes place, the better. The nuclear power industry of our countries will only benefit from that",-he noted.