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Highly Committed Firemen at Power Plant

Fire Service and Damage Prevention Department of ATOMIX Ltd. or, as is generally known, NPP Fire Service, provides mobile fire protection services for Paks Nuclear Power Plant on commercial basis as a full-time establishment-based fire service organization. Commander Péter Böhm told us that the Department was set up on 1 July 1994 as a successor organization of the Power Plant’s fire service operative since 1986. In addition to the core fire-fighting and technical rescue operations, NPP Fire Service has been providing ambulance-based emergency life-saving services, also serving the surrounding area within a radius of 15 km from the Power Plant to help rescue operations in case of mass disasters and accidents, since the autumn of 2005.
The Fire Service places considerable weight on fire prevention. They carry out regular checks on the proper storage of combustible and explosive substances, the compliance with company regulations for high fire risk work activities and the condition of above-ground fire hydrants of the high-pressure fire water system in the Power Plant. Fire Service held 50 fire safety training events for the Plant’s operational staff. Within the framework of its fire-fighting and technical rescue activities, Fire Service provides 24-hour stand-by service, practices joint fire drills including the operational staff, conducts training and test drills in co-operation with the professional fire service personnel of municipalities and provides assistance to municipal Fire Departments if required.
Whenever alarmed, NPP Fire Service staff must show that they indeed have far-reaching local knowledge and wide expertise. Consequently, the Fire Service maintains a very high standard of professional training.
Last year, the Fire Service received 197 calls in emergency, of which 6 came in from outside the Plant. While 43 Plant alarms did not require any actual Fire Service intervention, 148 did. Ambulance calls (66) represent a major portion of this latter figure, with 50 cases of rescue from elevator and 26 of other technical rescue operations. Only 2 insignificant fires occurred in the Nuclear Power Plant in 2008 (garbage containers took fire in both cases).
The Fire Service-based healthcare & prevention programme provides a framework for monitoring the physical and psychical health of the staff on a continuous basis. NPP firemen had several occasions to test themselves in various contests, and not only in official health surveys. They won lots of cups and medals at fire-fighting/professional, first-aid and sports events.
As regards the future, NPP Fire Service continues to have a particular focus on joint drills with Plant staff and municipalities’ fire personnel, and on mission control operations. The Fire Service management deems it important to take part in the work of the professional interest organizations in order to become efficient in representing the interests of their own staff and other establishment fire services.

by Mrs. Anna Lovásziné
Katasztrófavédelem
April 2009