For the fifth consecutive year, students majoring in Nuclear Energy at the Department of Heat Engineering and Thermal and Nuclear Power Plants, IPEC, participated in the Summer School on Nuclear Safety. The students’ training took place as part of a project implemented at the State Scientific and Technical Centre for Nuclear and Radiation Safety on the initiative of Argonne National Laboratory and with financial support from the US State Department.
During the three weeks of training, participants delved into the world of the latest nuclear technologies, which are actively developing in the United States, consolidated their knowledge by participating in practical classes and discussions, and worked in teams on group projects together with their mentors. The students demonstrated high motivation and interest in the lectures and according to their feedback, the programme exceeded their expectations in terms of the intensity and content of the training modules, the lectures covered both basic concepts and modern technological solutions in the field of nuclear energy.
During the training, students had a unique opportunity to visit the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and see with their own eyes the site of one of the largest man-made disasters in human history, learn more about the events of 1986, their causes and long-term consequences for Ukraine and the world.
At the end of the three-week training, students presented their group final projects in the following areas: modern approaches to improving the safety of nuclear power plants in Ukraine; assessment of the suitability of small modular reactors (SMRs) to replace coal-fired power generation; advanced fuel for PWR-type SMRs; the concept of defence in depth for SMRs; application of proven technologies for dry storage of spent fuel assemblies from full-scale reactors for SMRs. All projects were highly praised by the programme mentors, and the students received certificates confirming their successful completion of the training.
Detailed information is available on the website.