U2.02/03 S - Scientific and Technical Support

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, a part of the then national level engineering support system remained in Russia. Still, some engineering organizations also existed in Ukraine, for example the State Scientific and Engineering Centre of Control Systems and Emergency Response (SSEC CSER) and Nuclear Power Plant Operational Support Institute (NPP OSI). Moreover, Ukraine has possessed highly skilled and qualified engineering personnel who could carry out the safety engineering support tasks. However, the existing engineering support organizations needed further development of their organization, equipment and activities as well as of the quality management. Assuming that it could be more effectively achieved through an international cooperation, Ukraine was seeking some assistance also in EU countries. As a result of this effort, the U2.02/97 TACIS project was launched in November 2000. It had been aimed at (A) establishment of SSEC CSER and NPP OSI as main organizations of national scientific, technical and engineering support to NPP operational safety in Ukraine, and (B) providing support to the already existing Energoatom Multifunctional Information Centre.

The full scope of the U2.02/97 project consisted of two different components – the provision of consultancy services and the supply of equipment.

The services component was further divided into two parts. In part A, dealing with SSEC CSER and NPP OSI, the objectives were to analyse the current situation in engineering support organisations at Ukraine, generate plans for further development of the above-mentioned support organisations, define pilot projects and specify the equipment to be supplied to SSEC CSER and NPP OSI. In addition to the tasks defined by the original ToR, a Scientific and Technical Organisation Support (SATOS) system was developed for SSEC CSER to create the link between the engineering work and the equipment to be supplied. In part B of the service contract, equipment for the existing multifunctional Information Centre of Energoatom has been specified. The initial intention was for the EC to procure the equipment specified in both parts of the service contract within the scope and budget of the U2.02/97 project.

In 2003, all the equipment to be procured within the project was consolidated in 6 lots, which have been defined in common technical specifications (TS). The lots included all the computer, office and laboratory equipment for SSEC CSER, NPP OSI and Energoatom Information Centre.
The project was initially planned for 24 months, but due to the lengthy work on the equipment technical specifications, the project implementation was substantially delayed. Therefore, it was later prolonged by 13 months and was formally closed in December 2003. As a result of the delays it was not possible to perform the equipment procurement within the validity period of the TACIS '97 programme budget.

The U2.02/03S project was established to complete the supply component of the original U2.02/97 project so that the (still relevant) objectives of the original project could be fully achieved. It made use of the technical specifications for equipment supply developed within the U2.02/97.

Within the project implementation, however, the technical specification developed under the U2.02/97 project was further modified and the final version was confirmed by all parties in July 2006. The final TS defined the following lots of supplies:

• Lot 1: Computers and office equipment for the following recipients:
  • Lot 1A: Energoatom Information Centre (EIC)
  • Lot 1B: Energoatom Information System(EIS)
  • Lot 1C: NPP OSI
  • Lot 1D: SSEC CSER
• Lot 2: Scientific and technical equipment for the SSEC CSER
• Lot 3: Communication link between NPP-OSI and EIC

However, in the subsequent supply tendering process, which took place later in 2006, no technically and financially compliant offer could be found, so the tender procedure was cancelled. As the available budget was not sufficient to purchase all lots, it was decided to purchase, by negotiated procedure, only the Lot 2 due to its greater relevance to nuclear safety. The Lot 2 consisted of the following items:

• HPGe gamma-detecting assembly for shallow logging (1 detecting unit) + a set of electronic devices for the HPGe gamma-detecting assembly
• Atomic-absorption spectrometer (1 unit)
• Vibration stand (1 unit)
• Gas chromatograph (1 unit)

This equipment should allow SSEC CSER to perform analysis/trending of environmental influence of operating NPP and assist Energoatom in assessing conformity of NPP safety components. It would especially include the following activities:

• measurements of radioactive contamination of environmental samples;
• measurements of other environmental pollution by other than radioactive substances;
• conformity assessment of safety NPP devices, regarding seismic resistance;
• conformity assessment of products for NPP (chemical reagents), and inspection of the primary and secondary coolant chemistry.

In accordance with the TS for the LoT 2, the equipment was finally supplied and accepted by the Beneficiary and the end user (SSEC CSER) on 25/08/2008:

Comments

(Quality of the results, Lesson learned, Recommendations for follow-up)

The project was badly affected by difficulties in specifying and procuring the requested equipment and the equipment specification and procurement was not completed in the normal project implementation period, nor in the extended implementation period. Further difficulties experienced during tendering showed that the allocated budget was not sufficient to purchase all the specified equipment and the scope of equipment finally supplied was limited compared to what was initially planned (both in terms of the equipment scope and the intended recipients).

It is clearly important therefore, when the scope of service contracts includes the preparation of technical specifications for purchase of required equipment, that the Consultant also performs a proper market survey and prepares realistic budget estimates for the equipment to be purchased. In this way he can keep the original project scope realistic and properly assess its feasibility, rather than have the original requirements oversized, so that comprehensive and useful results can be achieved and the allocated funds are effectively used to the real benefit of all parties involved.

Further Information

Further information can be found in the archive files and documents available at the EC, JRC – Institute for Energy (SPNR Unit), Petten, NL, at the EC, AIDCO, Unit 4, Brussels or at the end user of the supplied equipment (SSEC CSER Kiev).