Starting from scratch
Nuclear power is a real terra incognita for Bangladesh. In a relatively small country with a population of over 170 million people, natural gas is mainly used to generate electricity. Some power plants run on fuel oil and coal. The country has hydroelectric power plants and projects for the use of renewable sources: sun, wind. But our own capacity is still not enough. We have to import electricity from India.
The Rooppur nuclear power plant, which has been under construction since 2016, is designed to alleviate resource shortages. Two power units have been built 160 kilometres from the capital Dhaka. Their total capacity will be 2,400 megawatts. Work on the site has reached its final stages. Staff training is also in full swing.
– Since the nuclear industry in the republic is in the process of formation, specialists for the maintenance of nuclear power plants are being trained in Russia. The first batch of Bengalis came to us in 2019, since then we have trained on average more than 200 people from this country annually – from ordinary builders and electricians to specialists in technical supervision, shift supervisors and chief engineers. More than 100 employees should be trained this year. Our contract for the training of specialists for the Rooppur NPP will last until 2025 inclusive; the total number of Bengalis trained by us will exceed 1,800 people,” said Alexander Kachaev, head of the project office of the International Personnel Training Center.
Eight citizens of the Republic of Bangladesh are currently studying in Novovoronezh. In February-March, they were trained here for the position of “electrician” and are now acquiring the knowledge and skills necessary to become shift supervisors in an electrical department.
As Alexander Kachaev explained, courses for foreign specialists, like those for Russian ones, are based on the same principle as in the nuclear industry. Everyone must receive training at all stages: theoretical training, practical training and on-the-job training.
– The theory is taught by employees of the Rosatom Technical Academy. And then there is the development of skills on local simulators and on-the-job training, both at the training point (UTP) and at the Novovoronezh NPP itself. Practice and internship are supervised by current nuclear power plant specialists. After training at the reference unit (in the case of the Rooppur NPP, these are power units No. 6 and 7 of the Novovoronezh NPP), the Bengalis will return home and continue their studies at their own station. Theoretical and practical classes are also held at the training center and internship at the local power unit, where the Russian specialists will initially work. In addition, like all nuclear scientists, the Bengali colleagues will have to undergo an annual knowledge test to confirm their competence, Kachaev added.
Lessons with translation
Mohammad Sazzadul Islam went through a qualifying selection for the position of shift supervisor in an electrical department in Russia to get his training, but he will only be able to take up the position in a few years. In the meantime, the young man spends eight hours a day practicing skills that will be useful when he works at a nuclear power plant. Starting at eight in the morning, he, in a small group of compatriots, discusses with the instructor the procedure to follow in various situations: from checking equipment and systems at the beginning of a shift, filling out work orders for subordinates, to eliminating various faults. All normal operating modes, and even emergency situations, are first discussed at the table, and then acted out in a classroom where models of electrical installations are installed.
An average of 500 foreign specialists pass through the centre each year. It takes them from six months to two and a half years to study.
– Every day their roles change. One is the eldest, answers the teacher’s questions and performs all the operations. The others listen and watch. And so on one by one,” explained Sergey Ryaboy, an instructor at the NV NPP training centre. – This is not much different from teaching Russian, the only difference is that there is always a translator present who translates my phrases into English and theirs into Russian. I am learning the language myself. But foreign students do not come to me all year round, and without constant practice, words, unfortunately, quickly slip from our memory…
The group’s curator, USP senior instructor Oleg Mokshin, admitted that at first it was unusual to communicate with his students through an interpreter, but then everything worked out.
– In this group of Bengals, all the guys are highly motivated and put in a lot of effort. Their knowledge base is about the same as that of the Russian specialists who come to us for training. It’s a matter of experience. Local students often know some of the nuances of working at nuclear power plants thanks to their parents, because we have many working dynasties. And foreigners simply have nothing to compare with.
After lunch, the Bengalis head to the NV nuclear power plant grounds for practical training. They follow close behind their colleagues and are allowed to ask questions, but are not allowed to touch the operating equipment.
– In my free time I walk in nature or continue to study specialized subjects at home – we have a study room in our rented apartment. I can no longer say that I have the right to call myself a specialist. In Bangladesh I will do an internship and then work for some time under the supervision of Russian specialists before actually becoming a shift supervisor in an electrical department. In our country electricity is mainly obtained by burning natural gas, but its reserves are running out. Nuclear energy will be a great help. If industry has been developing in Russia for many decades, then we are only at the beginning of the journey and, of course, we will not catch up with them “overnight”. It will take us years to acquire the necessary skills, and for this we must study regularly,” said Mohammad Sazzadul Islam.
During the seven months of his studies, of course, he missed his family. He calls them every night. He says that his family is very happy because he will be taking part in the commissioning of the Rooppur nuclear power plant and will become part of the history of nuclear energy in Bangladesh.
In the language of friendship
In Novovoronezh, Jubair is fluent not only in the profession of nuclear scientist, but also in Russian. Since childhood, the boy has known Bengali and Hindi (since Bangladesh has a border with India, this is the norm for local residents), and he learned English at school. His fluency now helps the young electrician read textbooks and speak with teachers through an interpreter. And the working documentation of the Rooppur nuclear power plant will not be translated into Bengali. But Jubair decided to move on.
– When I arrived, I immediately learned two phrases: “I don’t speak Russian” and “I don’t understand Russian.” This is the basis of communication,” she laughs. – In my free time, I watch educational videos in Russian on YouTube, using the free language platform Duolingo. We often walk around Novovoronezh, drive around and go shopping. And we meet sympathetic people everywhere. The police, the train inspectors, the sellers – they all help us not to get lost, informing us about discounts and promotions. Last week we were returning from Liski, there was little time for a transfer. So the cashier not only helped us get tickets, but also accompanied us to the stop – otherwise we would definitely have missed the train to Kolodeznaya!
In case of difficulties, Bengalis send messages to one of the translators assigned to them. For example, if they do not understand how to return products from an online store.
– They actively use popular services, buy products on the market and especially love cherries. Ready-made dishes include dumplings, pancakes and pancakes. They are happy to invite you to try their national dishes, which are very aromatic and spicy,” commented translator Natalia Kolmakova.
In order to work with future nuclear scientists, she, a philologist by training, completed a retraining course at the Rosatom Technical Academy. And after working for several years, she also completed a master’s degree at the nuclear physics department of the MEPhI branch in Obninsk. This allows her to better understand the material and adapt it when translating, depending on the level of knowledge of the students.
– There are more experienced guys and there are less. Many of them studied in English schools in their homeland, you can immediately recognize them by their British accent and, for example, by their unusual weight and length measurements for us: pounds, miles… For me, this is a very interesting job. I even managed to go on a business trip to the Republic of Bangladesh. I remember their brightly painted houses. The country is different from ours, unique. If I have the opportunity, I will definitely go there again.
In Novovoronezh, the Bengalis are also helped in their free time. They were taken to the museum of the nuclear power plant, where they were very interested in the models of equipment, and they were taken on picnics and excursions to the regional capital. The interns turned out to be sporty: they taught their local colleagues to play cricket and enjoyed playing football with them.
Open to the world
In addition to the Bengalis, 23 Turkish specialists are currently studying in Novovoronezh. Classes are held for them in Russian – the students understand it well, having graduated from Moscow technical universities. Future Belarusian nuclear scientists have also been trained at the project office of the International Personnel Training Centre, and cooperation with Egyptian colleagues is in the offing.
– On average, 500 foreign specialists pass through the centre every year. Depending on their speciality, their training lasts from six months (for operators) to two and a half years (for shift managers). At the end of the course, everyone takes a knowledge test. If you fail the first time, you have the right to take it again. But such cases rarely occur, as all foreign specialists are highly motivated,” explained the head of the project office, Alexander Kachaev.
He stressed that Novovoronezh NPP was the first among Russian nuclear power plants to establish its own international personnel training centre. There is a similar office in Sosnovy Bor, but with a smaller scope of work: the Leningrad NPP also has an innovative power unit, the model of which is used to build facilities abroad.
Rosatom is the world’s leading supplier in terms of the number of nuclear power plants under construction. The state corporation is building 33 high-power power units in 10 countries and is implementing the world’s first export project for the construction of a low-power nuclear power plant (six power units in Uzbekistan).
