On 12 and 13 November the Chornobyl NPP hosted the International Insurance Survey of the World System of Nuclear Insurance Pools. The survey’s task — to assess the ChNPP key facilities (both interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel, NSC, complexes for radioactive waste management, etc.) and develop an engineering report on risks of its third party liability insurance for nuclear damage that can be inflicted to their life, health and property.
According to Valeriy Seyda, the ChNPP First Deputy Director General, possession of an insurance certificate is of great importance for the Plant, as, without it, it is impossible to obtain the operating licenses for the NSC and ISF-2 after completing their construction.
“A facility must be assessed prior to its insurance. In our case [in case of Chornobyl NPP — ed.] it is a very complex technological site. Here we are carrying out the engineering assessment of risks,” — comments the survey Oleksandr Babenko, the Director General of the Ukrainian Nuclear Insurance Pool.
“On the one hand, we are looking at “hardware”. In general, it is good like everywhere in the world. From the other hand, it is not a secret that the primary cause of accidents and all troubles, not only in nuclear industry, is the human factor. That is why we are focusing on the safety culture, attitude of personnel to the safety, its training and other issues that may lead to any problems. After all, this is a large industrial site,” — concluded Mr. Babenko.
Following this survey the insurance engineers will submit a detailed report (about 150 pages) containing the comprehensive analysis of the ChNPP facilities.
Then this report will be addressed to the Ukrainian Nuclear Insurance Pool, and it will assess the Plant’s risks taking into account the political, economic and market components.
After that an insurance rate is determined and a decision is made whether to insure or not. If the decision is positive, a new insurance certificate will be issued each year and a similar survey will be carried out once every four years.
