On September 30, 2008, a new “Training Course for Earthquakes” began.
This one is a new course that has been designed to address new operator
training challenges [1] that have arisen
from the Niigata Prefecture Chuetsu Offshore Earthquake. Whereas until now the primary objective of
earthquake training has been the mastery of operating procedures in response to
basic single failures, this newly offered course consists of diagnosing plant
conditions during complex, multiple failures which occur at the same time, and
judging and executing countermeasures based on priority.
[1] "Future tasks and desired responses from the national government
and nuclear energy operators based on lessons learned from the impact of
the Niigata Prefecture Chuetsu-Offshore Earthquake on the Tokyo Electric
Power Company Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station" Nuclear and
Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) December 20, 2007.
Unlike previous earthquake training, this course offers both classroom
training as well as simulator training.
[Classroom Training (discussion group)]
During the classroom training priority of judgment and team behavioral
strategy are debated.
The group debate section of the training has received positive comments
from trainees such as,"We have discovered that the group debate has
had significant results on operation."
[Simulator Training]
During the simulator training, the results from the classroom debate session
are put into practice while operating the simulator.
An earthquake is simulated with multiple complex failures occurring at
the same moment and trainees must face the challenge of assessing the plant
conditions, understanding the priorities, and then deciding which
countermeasures to pursue. By practicing
earthquake training with a simulator under extra severe conditions, trainees
will be better prepared if an actual earthquake occurs.
The pictures are of training in Simulator
No. 4 at Niigata Center. This training has received other comments from trainees such as, "I
was capable of managing operation while thinking about the order of priorities."
The combined results of the group debate
and simulator training for earthquakes are thought to be effective.
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