The technical and circulating water supply systems of nuclear power plants use water from natural or technical water bodies to provide the water supply to the nuclear power plants. Individual elements and equipment of technical water, are called technical water supply systems. In technical and circulating water supply systems, biological fouling is a collection of microorganisms, algae, molluscs, sponges, bryozoans and other biological organisms that have settled and developed on the heat exchange surfaces of units, in pipelines and on the structures of circulating water coolers. This fouling is caused by the introduction of micro-organisms and dispersal forms of fouling organisms with water from the source. In order to prevent and eliminate biological fouling on the equipment of technical and circulating water supply systems of nuclear plants, Rosenergoatom Concern JSC has adopted a production programme aimed at regular biological and chemical monitoring of water supply systems of nuclear plants.

The article deals with one of the nuclear terrorism problem aspects, namely the attempts to implement “nuclear” blackmail by individual states. The possible destructive aircrafts impact to objects using atomic energy is considered. An express assessment of the guided air bomb strike result on the reinforced concrete object structure was carried out.

Nowadays, there is a problem of a lack of computer power to conduct high-precision reactor analysis. There are several factors that increase the excessive computational load and make it difficult to calculate nuclear reactor full-scale models using Monte Carlo method. Among them is the large neutron-flux attenuation, which is observed in deep penetration problems. Various reduction techniques are used to increase the efficiency of Monte Carlo calculations in such tasks. It allows to reduce the statistical uncertainty of the functional evaluation without increasing the number of neutron histories. This work is devoted to study and testing of variance reduction techniques in the deep penetration problem. To demonstrate the possibility of using non-analogue Monte Carlo modeling a test problem was formulated. To quantify the efficacy of applying the variance reduction methods, FOM characteristic is considered, which is a function of the relative error in a flux estimate and the computational time of the simulation. The article considers non-analogue techniques implemented in the MCU (Monte Carlo Univarsal) and OpenMC codes. As part of the study, a module of the OpenMC code was developed that allows to automatically generate weight windows. It is shown that variance reduction techniques increase the calculation efficiency by several times, particularly, the weight windows method in OpenMC make it possible to achieve a 7-fold increase in the efficiency of neutron flux estimation with the same number of simulated histories. The formulated recommendations can be used in the calculation of innovative nuclear reactors full-scale models.

Nuclear power plants (NPP) are one of the main sources of electricity. The distribution of electricity generated by nuclear power plants, or backup power supply to individual consumers of the power plant's own needs, can be carried out via a 6-35 kV network. These networks operate with an isolated or compensated neutral. This causes the fact that the currents of single-phase ground faults (SPGF) in case of accidents on overhead power lines (OL) are quite small and SPGF are difficult to identify. The article deals with the issues of identifying the SPGF and the corresponding selective response of the overhead line protection system. The limitation of the functioning of relay protection against SPGF, built on the classical principle of operation "if-then", is proved. The error of the traditional protection system is explained by the lack of a mechanism for updating the setpoints in accordance with changes in environmental conditions that affect the capacitive component of the conductivity of overhead lines. As an example of similar an influence, the effect of icing of wires, as well as the triboelectric effect in the form of accumulation of a space charge in the air gap around the line, is described. In this regard, a method is described for correcting the protection setpoints due to periodic measurements of the capacitance of the lines by means of their location probing. Thus, it is proposed to improve the traditional current protection against SPGF by giving the system the ability to adapt, but within the framework of its response as an agent with a simple behavior. The construction of a more advanced system of protection against SPGF in the form of an intelligent agent of the electrical network is also considered. The essence of this system is to use an artificial neural network as a subagent processing information. The advantage of a neurocomputer system for protection against SPGF is proved, which forms an integral assessment of the state of power transmission lines and learns to detect SPGF on a digital shadow following the electrical network. It indicates the possibility of classifying the proposed system of protection against SPGF as an intelligent agent due to the ability to adapt, learn and develop.

The paper considers various concentrations of burnable absorber (BA) Gadolinium (Gd) in the system of compensation of excess reactivity in the reactor of WWER type at the extended campaigns. It is analyzed the influence of the method for the Full-scale and Poly-cells model placing the burnable absorber in the fuel with gadolinium rods (tveg). The strong influence of the BAs composition in the fuel with gadolinium rods (tveg) dependence on the multiplication factor of the fuel burnup is shown.

The relevance of this work is determined by the need to predict the operation of sealing joints of transport locks of WWER-1000 and WWER-1200 power units in operational modes. The results of tests of rubber seals for tightness are given. Based on the study, the tightness of the rubber seals used was assessed and recommendations are developed to increase the reliability of the sealing joints of transport locks of WWER-1000 and WWER-1200 power units in operational modes.

This paper presents the results of the influence of reactivity on fuel temperature distribution for the neutron-physical characteristics of WWER 1000-1200 cores, which in turn affects the parameters of Xenon oscillation. The improved method for calculating Resonance Absorption in a²³⁸UO₂ (Doppler reactivity effect) with a Nonuniform Temperature Profile are developed. The parameters calculation results for Xenon oscillations have been calculated using complex program PROSTOR. The validation of the improved method was examined by comparing the calculated xenon parameters to measurement results obtained during commissioning tests of WWER-1000 reactor power units. Results showed a more accurate calculation for the Resonance Absorption in a²³⁸UO2, they significantly reduce the stabilization of Doppler Effect broadening, hence these facts, are vital importance in the case of load following mode accompanied by Xenon processes in the core. The improved method is implemented into the computer-software of the Full-Scale Simulator of the 3^rd Power Unit of the Rostov NPP and the Full-Scale Simulator of the 4^th Power Unit of the Kalinin NPP. The method was tested during acceptance tests of these Full-Scale Simulators.

Safety culture education and training for managers and specialists is one of the most important tools for safety culture implementation and enhancement at nuclear facilities. In this article, the authors consider the topic of safety culture education in the Republic of Belarus. An analysis of the scope of the concept of «safety culture» application in the regulatory documentation of the Republic of Belarus and the IAEA is carried out. The requirements of the current rules and regulations of the Republic of Belarus regarding the development of safety culture among nuclear facilities employees, as well as international standards and recommendations of the IAEA on maintaining and improving the level of safety culture are given. Two directions of safety culture education in the Republic of Belarus are considered: education within the framework of the master’s program preparing young specialists and within the framework of advanced training courses for nuclear facilities employees, as well as a summary of these programs.

The article updates the methodological foundations and practical aspects of managing the production safety culture of industrial enterprises. The importance of corporate standards of production safety culture as a tool for managing industrial safety of industrial enterprises is emphasized. The general characteristics of the regulatory framework contributing to the development and implementation of corporate standards of production safety culture of industrial enterprises are proposed.

The paper considers the model of service and infrastructure development of the city of Volgodonsk which is based on the approach that takes into account the existing potential in the territory of the urban agglomeration and is aimed at a more intensive use of available opportunities. As a result of the implementation of the Strategy of its socio-economic development until 2030, the city of Volgodonsk should become a city of scientific and technical intellectuals. And an important role in achieving this mission is assigned to the Volgodonsk Engineering and Technical Institute (branch of MEPhI). This university is considered as a driver of "intellectual prosperity" of the Rostov NPP location. VITI MEPhI translates in the region the interests of MEPhI as a strategic partner of SC "Rosatom" in the field of personnel training. The development strategy of VITI MEPhI is aimed at preservation and multiplication of the achieved results taking into account modern trends of education development and establishes key objectives, tasks, specific directions, mechanisms ensuring further development of the Institute at the present stage of functioning of the system of higher professional education.