On 11th of October, the Training Centre (TC) of SSE Chornobyl NPP celebrated the 40th anniversary of its establishment. For forty years, the centre has been at the heart of professional training and qualification maintenance for the plant’s personnel.

The history of the Training Centre (TC) began on October 11, 1986, when a founding decree established the training facility. Its main mission was the training, selection and qualification assessment of the operational staff managing the three power Units of the nuclear power plant.

“Initially, a training facility performed fairly narrow tasks: training, selecting and qualifying operational staff for reactor main control panels. According to the initial narrative surrounding the cases of the Chornobyl accident, the operators were blamed for all the faults. Setting up the training centre was direct response to this. Gradually, the ongoing training and maintenance of operational staff’s qualifications, particularly for control panels’ operators, became standard practice in the world. As licensing for personnel involved in reactor operation began to be introduced, we have also taken charge of overseeing this process,” says Andrii Lukiianchuk, Deputy Head of the Training Centre.

In the second half of 2002, the Training Centre underwent reorganization. Its activities were refocused on training and maintaining the skills of staff required to carry out tasks during the decommissioning phase of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant’s Units.

Today, the centre provides professional training for the plant’s staff, taking into account a wide range of tasks, including the decommissioning of power Units, the management of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel, the operation of infrastructure facilities at the Chornobyl NPP industrial site, as well as the transformation of the “Shelter object” into an environmentally safe system. Particular attention is paid to training in occupational health and safety and fire safety. Currently, this area comprises 44 training programs. At the same time, the centre is actively expanding the use of computer-based training systems.

The last five years have been a period of serious challenges and adaptation for the centre. The training system has had to be maintained and developed amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, a full-scale war and staff working on a shift rotation.

The training system had to be maintained and developed amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, a full-scale war and a shift - work schedule.

“Despite all the challenges, the Training Centre manages to carry out all the activities taking place at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant,” adds Andrii Lukiianchuk.