A group of university teachers of Belarusian National Technical University and Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronic who are involved in the development of specialists for the first Belarusian NPP accomplished a specialized internship programme on International Approaches in Development and Safe Use of Nuclear Energy.
The internship was conducted from 15 to 24 May 2017 in Vienna by the Regional Network for Education and Training in Nuclear Technology STAR-NET, in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Nuclear Knowledge Management Institute (NKMI).
The purpose of internship programme was to update knowledge and skills of university teachers in international approaches and latest achievements in development and safe use of nuclear energy as well as on current international project in knowledge management and nuclear education.
The training sessions were conducted by the IAEA staff and well recognized experts in the field and included a wide spectrum of topics in four main areas:
– The role of international cooperation in the development and safe use of nuclear power, including the IAEA safety standards system, non-proliferation issues, the INPRO methodology and programme, basic principles and systems for radioactive waste management,
– Establishment of a national nuclear infrastructure for the first nuclear power plant including energy and socio-political development, the economy of the nuclear industry and the models of energy planning,
– Information systems and knowledge management in nuclear industry organizations including knowledge management methods and tools, NPP information models, nuclear education, NPP personnel training, and
– Technical and organizational aspects on nuclear energy development including integrated approach to the management of nuclear facilities, configuration management of nuclear power plants, applications of research nuclear reactors, computer-based control systems for nuclear power plants, and small modular reactors.
A special attention was given to practical applications of cyber learning platforms to support educational programmes at universities. A newly established (in April 2017) the STAR-NET Learning Management System (STAR-NET LMS) was used to support the internship programme implementation and to conduct practical sessions where all participants mastered the basics of creating e-learning courses, keeping them up-to-date, interacting with trainees, and conducting student assessment.
The technical visits were well received by all participants and named as the most memorable parts of the internship. Participants had an opportunity to visit the hydroelectric station of Vienna, Kraftwerk Freudenau, the IAEA’s Incident and Emergency Centre, the Zwentendorf nuclear power plant, and the nuclear research reactor TRIGA MARK II of Technical University of Vienna / Atominstitut.
During the closing discussion and through a formal feedback participants evaluated the internship programme as very valuable and made some suggestions on further improvements.
Burov A.L., Senior Lecture, BNTU.
The detail report is available on the BNTU site.
