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Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Plant to Open With International Oversight

   Jeffrey Young  April 07, 2011
   Workers work in a part of the electricity generating plant of the
   Bushehr nuclear power plant, just outside the southern city of Bushehr,
   Iran, 26 Oct 2010 (file photo)

Photo: AP

   Workers work in a part of the electricity generating plant of the
   Bushehr nuclear power plant, just outside the southern city of Bushehr,
   Iran, 26 Oct 2010 (file photo)

   Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant has been completed. Russia, which
   supplied the reactor, is now training Iranians to operate the facility.
   And the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, of which Iran is a
   member, says it is committed to imparting a "culture of nuclear safety"
   for all member nuclear power operators. As last month's nuclear
   disaster at Japan's Fukushima power plant shows, such safety
   considerations can become a life-or-death matter.
   Workers at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, north of Tokyo, on the
   Pacific Ocean coast, have struggled to prevent the spread of radiation
   following damage incurred by that massive earthquake in March. Their
   efforts reflect the extensive emergency training they, and other
   nuclear power workers worldwide, are given. That includes the personnel
   at Iran's new Bushehr nuclear power plant.
   The nuclear power industry will never forget what happened 25 years ago
   at the Chernobyl facility in Ukraine. There, an experiment with the
   cooling system - one not provided for in the training regimen - led to
   a reactor explosion and what became the world's worst nuclear power
   disaster.

   IFRAME: [1]http://www.youtube.com/embed/j-LvyzZHIJM?rel=0

   Especially after Chernobyl, the global nuclear power industry has
   focused on what it calls a "culture of nuclear safety." At The Nuclear
   Energy Institute - a U.S. trade group, Tony Pietrangelo explains the
   concept.
   "The safety culture exists on a continuum," said Tony Pietrangelo .
   "You can always work to improve it. It is a questioning attitude. It is
   professionalism. And again, it is that profound respect for the
   technology you are dealing with."
   One pillar of that safety culture is thorough training for those who
   will operate nuclear power plants. Russia's state nuclear power entity,
   ROSATOM, which completed the Bushehr plant after years of delays, is
   now training the Iranian staff to run it. At the U.S. Broookhaven
   National Laboratory, senior scientist Upendra Rohatgi describes the
   training regimen.
   "They are providing operator training in terms of classroom
   [instruction]. Then also, they have full-scope simulators, which are
   the same as western [in terms of] standards, and then, in-plant
   training," noted Rohatgi.
   Like the aircraft simulators that pilots train on, nuclear power
   operators can learn how to cope with problems and sudden emergencies
   without making real-life mistakes that could cause fatalities and
   devastate the environment.
   ROSATOM will remain on-site for the immediate future, as it has done
   with other client nations such as China and India.
   And the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), of which Iran is a
   member state, will oversee the plant's operation.
   The IAEA sends teams of inspectors to nuclear power plants to ensure
   that best practices are being followed.
   "They look at the training programs - how the operators are trained to
   cope with accidents on simulators, and so on. And, we also look at the
   qualifications of people to perform maintenance. And also, the
   preparation of the plant for possible emergencies," explained IAEA
   Nuclear Installation Safety Director Philippe Jamet.
   Iran's Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly said that as an IAEA member,
   it will follow that U.N. agency's operational and safety protocols at
   the Bushehr plant.
   But what the disaster at Japan's Fukushima plant makes clear is that
   the severity of natural events, such as a massive earthquake, can
   overwhelm even the highest levels of training and attention to safety.

   This is part three of a three-part series. Click here for [2]part 1 and
   here [3]part 2.

References

   1. http://www.youtube.com/embed/j-LvyzZHIJM?rel=0
   2. http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/east-pacific/Japanese-Nuclear-Crisis-Renews-International-Safety-Concerns-119397724.html
   3. http://www.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/Bushehr-Nuclear-Plant-Located-in-Earthquake-Prone-Iran-119401999.html

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