ON SITE ASSISTANCE LENINGRAD NPP PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant (LNPP) is located in the vicinity of Sosnovy Bor in Russia's Leningrad Oblast, on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, some 70 kilometers to the west of the city centre of Saint Petersburg. It consists of four nuclear reactors of RBMK-1000 type. Construction of the first unit started in May 1967, and the Unit reached full power operation in December 1973. Another three units with RBMK reactors were constructed at LNPP site in parallel. In August 1981, the Unit 4, last one at the LNPP site, reached the rated power output of 1 000 MW. Based on Chernobyl accident lessons learned as well as Russian Federation Gostatomnadzor requirements, all RBMK reactors at LNPP were substantially modernized. Currently (2012) two units of VVER-1200 type are under construction at Leningrad NPP II to replace the current RBMK reactors when they reach the end of their service life.

Research and Development Institute of Power Engineering (NIKIET) was established in 1952 and began with the first steps of nuclear energy in the Soviet Union. It was this institute that developed the first reactor system for the first Soviet nuclear submarine, a water-graphite pressure-tube reactor for the world's first nuclear power plant in Obninsk, the first dual-purpose power reactor built at Sibirskaya NPP, and the first pressure-tube reactor with nuclear steam superheating for Beloyarsk NPP. It is the architect engineer for RBMK reactors. Today, NIKIET is one of Russia's largest centers for nuclear engineering and technology, with sites in Moscow and in the Urals. The Institute has been involved in the programmes of European Commission TACIS and PHARE and the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, as well as in bilateral projects for safety analysis of RBMK plants.

TACIS 92 nuclear safety programme agreed upon between the European Commission and the Russian Federation contained provisions for enhancement of operational safety and near term technical improvements for Russian NPP. In line with this programme the On-site assistance (OSA) activities were to be implemented through cooperation between selected NPPs / Utilities in Russia and Utilities from the European Union.

The aim of the 1992' On-Site Assistance programme was to improve the operational safety at Leningrad NPP through the transfer of know-how and operational best practice. The OSA Consultant task was to provide the Project Management Services for the Development of an All Station Computer Network. The procurement, installation and commissioning of the computer network was subject to a separate Supply contract.

The Phase 1 of the project was covered by a previous contract (see contract 22356) and involved the project management services for two parts: Part A Development of the All Station Computer Network, and Part B Technical Support Centre for nuclear Power Plants with RBMK reactors. Phase 2 provided for support to the equipment procurement activities.

The OSA activities at LNPP were implemented by the EC Consultant Magnox Electric. This was a very first OSA type contract implemented in the Russian Federation during which the Magnox Electric team pioneered the way of implementing the TACIS projects at LNPP site.

The Project consisted of two parts which were closely linked together. Part A focused on the development and implementation of the All Station Computer Network which would make possible the integration of plant data into one consolidated plant computer network system, and Part B, which would facilitate a similar network, equipped with necessary hardware and software to allow for data communication between the nuclear power plants operating RBMK reactors and the technical support centre NIKIET in Moscow.

Within the scope of the present contract the Project Part A involved the following activities:

• Survey the EU market of SCADA (supervisory and data acquisition) systems and of the Russian market of network design and installation;
• Active participation in the procurement process (with Procurement agent);
• Setting up project organization and reporting system;
• Quality assurance;
• Project control and monitoring;
• Relation with other relevant projects at LNPP;
• System engineering, consultancy during design, development, acceptance and commissioning;
• Review of project deliverables;
• Knowledge transfer with regards to network management and operation;
• Preparation of special terms of references for projects to be funded from TACIS 93/94 budget.

Within the scope of the present contract the project Part B involved the following activities:

• Definition of general requirements for and future role of the technical Support Centre (TSC), taking into account experience of Western utilities, needs of LNPP and other nuclear power plants with RBMK reactors;
• Elaboration of the relationship between the Crisis Centre, technical support centre for nuclear power plants;
• Definition of the organizational, technical and staff requirements of TSC to support RBMKs, taking into consideration the facilities made available at LNPP by the All Station Computer Network Project;
• Establishment of the current extent and reusability of RBMK T/H codes;
• Identification and evaluation of relevant system and/or software products, and suppliers;
• Recommendations on proposals for TSC system, and agreement with interested parties (including EC and Gostatomnadzor);
• Definition of the scope of supply for Technical Support Centre with RBMK reactors – Phase 2, which would provide maximum possible facilities for LNPP within the constraints of the allocated budget and time scale.

The OSA Contract was signed by EC on 5th December 1994 and by the Contractor on 21 March 1995. The project had an initial duration of 24 months. The Contract was later extended and expired on 21 April 1998. It should be noted that only the first phase of the Supply project had been completed at the end of the contact. The complete network had been installed but the systems had been commissioned only in the reactor building. The extension of computer network to other buildings was the subject of the Phase 2 of the Supply project.

It should be mentioned that Project Part A has been implemented during the contract period, however project Part B did not start due to that Terms of Reference of the subcontract had not been agreed yet by the involved contract parties.