OREANDA-NEWS. August 10, 2007. Rosenergoatom’s annual schedule of personnel training, Bilibino NPP conducted an emergency exercise. The subject of the exercise was “A Fire at Unit 1 Developing Into Off-Design Accident.“

The objective of the training was to see if the Emergency Response Group and the technical support centers of Rosenergoatom and the management, communication and alarm systems of the Concern are ready to quickly respond to a serious accident and if the information systems of the REA Crisis Center can effectively interact with rescuers.

Specialists of Bilibino NPP, Rosenergoatom Crisis Center and Emergency Response Group, radiation and technological safety experts and other specialists took part in the exercise.

Expert groups of Novovoronezh Emergency Center, All-Russian Institute of Nuclear Power Plants (VNIIAES), Typhoon SPA, Nuclear Safety Institute (Russian Academy of Sciences), Institute of Bio-Physics, Atomenergoproject and other organizations provided technical support to the trainees.

According to the scenario, at midnight the framework of Unit 1 fell down and caught fire. Subcriticality was impossible due to failing automatic protection system, so, the personnel had to switch off the reactor manually.

The trainers did very well: they put out the fire and stopped the reactor.

The commander of the exercise, Deputy Director General-Technical Director of Rosenergoatom Nikolay Sorokin commended them for their efficiency.

During the exercise Bilibino NPP was working without problems. Presently, it has three operating units – 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Unit 1 is in reserve.

The radiation background at the plant and in the nearby area is within norm.