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Source of Success is Primarily the Ambitious and Intelligent Man
Firemen with "atomic power"

Atomic. In the sixties seeming historic today the youth of that time referred with this attribute (too) to those they acknowledged. (In present interpretation it means for example: wicked, killer, neat). In the area of Paks Nuclear Power Plant Company (PA Rt.) generating 42.2% of the Hungarian energy consumption a professional fire service works. Having acquired some experience on the spot, it can be said: atomic.

Somewhere in the hot-water tank of block number two the heating elements having started opening in April have been still cooled. The technical problem is given, will be solved in due time, but the playfellows of politics would not have neglected blowing up their own little nuclear "bomb". Though a calmer world, more peaceful spectacle almost could not been imagined than that receiving us in Paks. Inside in the middle of the power plant a long passenger railway train is kept waiting; we believed it was used to transport the workers of the morning shift home. We were informed: it is a row of standby carriages that perhaps will never move, ordered to execute a possible power plant evacuation. We were talking with such people in Paks, who do not have tickets for it. With firemen. They cannot do anything else as their colleagues anywhere in the country, in the world: they go to where others escape from.
We are entering imposing barracks spending its childhood, after we have "defeated" the strict entering rules, distances within the fences. Here everything have to be measured with other scale than "outside". Everyone could say: at a nuclear power plant everything comes into money obviously in a different way than at other places, so the fire-protection as well. He is right. But the speciality of Paks Nuclear Power Station Fire Service derives from it not at all. The question arises by itself: whether is a professional fire service maintained everywhere in the nuclear power plants all over the world?
- 'Practically only in the former socialist countries' says Péter Bőhm, Commander of the Nuclear Power Plant Fire Service, who has been dealing with fire protection of nuclear power plants for exactly 21 years. He finds the reason of the difference in the fact that the work morale is traditionally different "there", the dissenting safety approach allows "being outside the gate".

The barracks are usual, but are not at all at the same time. We could walk anywhere on the face of it, but it turns out soon: here everything is centred around the atomic nucleus. Yet what happens inside the walls that is almost unique and absolutely remarkable. In the tool-house the implements are selected resolutely: for example, a vehicle with lifting basket suitable for overcoming the height of 60 meters stands in it (usually, because now it is in service in Kondoros). Everybody has two portable radio transmitter-receivers: one of them connects the firemen to the fire department(s), the other one connects them to the power plant staff. (What a disregard from the side of the nature that it formed only one mouth for us, mainly for them.) Two kinds of personal radiation detectors are standing on alert. The information technology has leading part in the intelligence centre implemented in practically large size (at last). All the existent talks are recorded that can be heard by phone inside the building, in case of an alert the precise map of the place of damage concerned, its practical approaching route, a drawing indicating the direction of fire spreading, information on the danger, possibilities of intervention are given into the duty commanding officer's hands.
We are strolling among the offices and other rooms. An elegant partition made of little metal and essentially curved glass is standing in the spacious upstairs entrance hall with a large plant and an aspirator breathing discreetly: a place for the smokers.
Over there is the office of the International Atomic Energy Agency kept closed at present. They requested to be allowed to have the headquarters at the fire department. Bedrooms, bathrooms, offices, common rooms are getting into our way, then we are getting into a lecture hall that is equipped with all kinds of good earthy things. (Let's add that with such things, which would be accessible for other fire services as well, if they wanted it.) Two rooms are used to establish, maintain the mental-physical balance. I am not sure: do the fashionable city fitness rooms have those ultramodern "torturing machines" that are used here? Every day and everybody, with first-class vocational guidance. But thereof later. Even a little museum has enough place under the roof.

- How many persons left the team when the firemen got to the company from the system managed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs?
- Then the Ministry of Internal Affairs had paid only the allowances of the personnel and the individual protecting equipment for a year, all the other things from the fire-engines to the pencils had been paid by the nuclear power plant. A set of agreements, regulations were needed when we were formed into private fire service. Then we increased the firemen's salaries with sixty per cent to compensate the possible disadvantages resulted from the change. Anyone could ask to be placed to any of the fire services controlled by the Ministry of Interior Affairs, but only one fireman used this possibility, another one retired. Meanwhile the difference of sixty per cent became trivial, so we restored the difference of sixty per cent between the employment at the two fire services for the benefit of our firemen. Our firemen get a standby fee of twenty per cent for keeping the daily home standby with ten persons, they travel to work practically free of charge. The nuclear power plant provides mobile telephones to our firemen. Once a month we make ten firemen practise their joining in with those, who are due at that time. Our firemen live within not more than twenty-five kilometres, and they have to arrive within an hour on duty.

- As you mentioned, not all the connections were broken off with the professional self-governing fire services, the Ministry of Fire Affairs.
- Not at all, as our firemen acquire their vocational qualification at their courses, our duty commanding officers proceed in Budapest for a week every year, even our fire brigade equipment number 2 goes to fires, accidents to Paks and its surroundings as well.

- Here are some facts due to which we only prick up our ears, rub our eyes.
- We employ only such a person who has taken his final exam, have "C" category driving licence, and has taken PAV I (exam) (Aptitude Test Concerning the Choice of Profession) from the very first. Our firemen have to take an alpine-technical exam without exception, even half of the personnel have already taken the intermediate, another part of them have taken the advanced exam as well. The officers submit to a graphological test as well in every two year, the costs of HUF sixty thousand per person is not cheap, but it has already got us out of the fix. From fifty-seven employees 18 persons attend a college at present without special stimulation by us. We like taking up our future colleagues from the street so that they should become firemen here.

- Your daily duty is not entirely usual either.
- 'The half an hour after changing is yoga exercise ensuring stretching and flexing, then half an hour of relaxation comes, and among the exercises fitness also has place' says István Schreiner, fire-fighting and technical rescue manager. 'Outer experts prepare the firemen for acquiring the special exercises once a year, the physical education is made by subject teachers from the town. Everybody does these according to individual programmes, if he wants, he does not make the exercises, but he has to be present. For example, it can be stimulating that the physicians of Budapest Sports Hospital make loading physiological examination with us regularly. It turns out from the survey that in what condition we are in relation to our age, physical contexture, what we should do to improve the state. They deal with everybody individually.

- Does the commander's exemplary conduct predominate in these forms as well?
- 'I took part in the first course as well', nodded Péter Bőhm.
Then it turns out that a lady comes to the barracks, who teaches one hour's Highway Code every month, presents case studies, the professional trainers practically examine the drivers from the material of "C" category every half a year. Usage of the routine course is also compulsory for them. Sometimes they make a large fire at a farther corner of the power plant, and then a new fire-fighting practice may come.
They try to overcome the negatives of the 24 hours' keeping in with cooperation training, communication training. This form is useful, because the firemen speak about things during the training, which they would keep inside themselves without reason. They take part in many interior courses as well. For example poison course. What is it good for? They say it is enough to think it over that the fire-fighting powder is a weak poison. Similarly to Budapest, life-saving and first aid have come into foreground (again) in the firemen's life. Think it over: there may arise such situations in the power plant, when in case of an accident specially trained firemen can let themselves down. It is worth a separate chapter that the firemen of Paks Nuclear Power Plant obtained the ISO certification first in the country, and it is known so that among the fire services in the world in 1999. Soon we will speak about the content of MSZ EN ISO 9001-2001, its apparent results in a separate article soon. Now only the following: they attain the stabilized work quality, continuous development of the activity, establishment of responsibility broken down to persons and all the work parts with the help of the work of Géza Sipter quality managing organizer and inspector in charge (dealing with this exclusively) It seems that the "instinctive" (and of course scandalously subjective) (so-called) manager's conduct causing a lot of damage and the employee's miking can be banished with this method for ever.
It is not significant, but it can be considered as interesting that the firemen of the nuclear power plant do not wear ranks. If they address each other formally, they use their position: Sir Commander, Sir Duty Officer Commander, etc. They have pensioners, of course, who finished the service with ranks. One of them, Lajos Zelei captain was promoted to retired major by the Home Secretary just now on the occasion of 20 August. By the way, he works for the commandership at present as well establishing labour relations.
In the glass-cabinet of the meeting room of the commandership a large pile of video cassettes are arranged. All kinds of training materials, records of competitions, cassettes recording their life. They are continuously digitizing those that can be done.

- Do you have any film about Chernobyl as well?
- We have used all the existing about it in the training. By now all the records have practically become known to the public as well.

- This April the events in Chernobyl in 1986 came to your mind obviously.
- 'We worked twenty-four hours a day at the event in block number 2 for three weeks. None of the firemen indicated that he did not undertake it, nobody asked a day-off. Then our essential task was on the spot to give the breathing protecting devices up and down. Man can acquire professional security in the possession of knowledge', pointed out István Schreiner.

- What does the management of the share company, Ltd. see from the fire protecting tasks, firemen's activity?
- 'We trained more than six hundred operational experts for fire protection, they got to know our life at that time as well,' answers Péter Bőhm. We execute the practices together, too. We cooperate with those in all of our "fire-fighting" practices, with whom we would help each other in a real situation. The safety manager of the share company and other managers attend our annual staff meetings. I add that we keep a closed annual evaluation for the three service groups separately subsequently, when the company treat them. There we can talk about our common issues completely frankly, in a free way.

If we cannot reveal everything from the life of the firemen of the nuclear power plant (for lack of sufficient place), some other aspects absolutely need to be put on our "screen". For example, the management of the commandership compiled an operational code: collection of their professional, moral principles. These thoughts are destined for assigning the direction of the continuous development of their work. It is an aid for those working here, and it is not such an abstract system of views as it can be guessed from those before. Let see the chapter titles (at least): "Our Definitions, Our Philosophy, Our Values, Our Objectives, Our Expectations, Our Operational Rules, Our Deciding Principles, Our Expectations From the Communication at the Workplace, Our Evaluating Points of View, Factors Influencing Our Satisfaction, Our Rules Carved into Stone, Admonitions, Forums and Rules of Operating the Code". The code was signed by nine persons on 31 January 2001, then the others joined them. That person can sign it who has been working as a fireman for them for at least a year. The code: community, losing the link to it is not less for the person than finding himself outside it. Of course, there are more prosaic things to speak about. If we look at the position system of the fire service, we face a apparently usual case: commander, deputy commander, fire-fighting and technical rescue manager, training executive, technical executive quality manager in charge, administrator, duty officer commanders, their deputies, and subordinates of three times 17 persons (with inner structure according to the duty arranging order) form the personnel. "Overtones": training executive, quality manager are employed, a separate head of the personnel department is not. But the substance (the quality) is really their objectives; it can be experienced in selection of their means, striving for perfection, all in all in their operation continuously renewing.
This fire service have classical scope of duties: they do not "bother about" administrative jobs, but of course, prevention is a part of their life, as they pay attention to that the fire protecting rules should be kept in the area of the nuclear power plant, follow the existence of the conditions of fire-fighting and technical rescue with attention (particularly), participate in the public proceedings as a representative with the company, investigation of fire cases, try to improve the employees' fire-protecting knowledge. Their essential duties are fire-fighting and damage prevention as it was mentioned, they proceed to fire in the surrounding of Paks, participate in the practices of the self-governing firemen of the town.

Of course, they have a fair number of particular duties as well. They participate in the prevention of incidents: they were given a bad time by the damaged heating elements as well in April. They mean irreplaceable hope for those getting into trouble with ambulance and saving, first aid knowledge in all of their firemen's possession, their alpine-technical preparedness. They multiply their daily standby capacity by providing home standby duty meaning availability within 1 hour and given by ten persons at the same time.

Their possibilities, remuneration are not everyday, but - if it had not turned out so far - the requirements are not usual as well. In general they join them with at least six (in case of the offices 12) months' probation, then the confirmation in their posts may come into question. During the procedure of employment the applicants have to get over psychic, special psychic, medical examinations, thorough survey of the physical abilities. Straightforwardly, not the commander's procedure of "looking at" resolves who can be a fireman. Requirements of the posts other than officers: existence of the final exam, "C" category driving licence enriched with PAV 1 (Aptitude Test Concerning the Choice of Profession) licence, getting over the routine course within the time limit. Of course, the officers must have state qualification of higher degree, and they are made to acquire the (real) fire protecting qualification of higher degree as well. Additionally they get over a graphological examination as well, and it will be a returning part of their managing life.

What is needed for that a labour contract for indefinite time will be concluded with a person? Of course, they have to complete the six weeks' elementary course (where the self-governing firemen), take three special exams of the nuclear power plant, get over theoretical and practical exams, take small machine operating exam, heavy machine operating exam, get over a pump- and powder-operating course, present qualifications of a signalman's course, take Simon-operating, load-fastening exam, they are required alpine-technical exam. The officers have to present intermediate exam certificate of radiation protection as well. These would be the "ducats".
They do not fiddling about. Regular medical re-examination, loading EKG- examination, periodical examination made by physicians from the sports hospital, periodical psychological suitability examination, getting over the psychic practising course of the Fire Service of the Capital Town, the returning "transilluminating" of the managers made by graphologists mean continuous suitability screening.
Of course, everybody gets all kinds of help to maintain the mental, physical, competence condition. It is too much to list: they study primary- and secondary circuit, electric, chemical, elementary-, intermediate alpine-technical knowledge and that of higher degree. The managers get KTO cooperation training. Tailored yoga-, relaxation, fitness-preparation is made, they participate in vocational training, there are courses of aggregate- and generator-operation, nuclear technics, information technology, saving from elevators, poison treatment, ADR-knowledge and so on. And they take exams from all of these. And in order that they should not be bored: this year they have participated in four firemen's competitions, a saving competition and a national football tour organised for firemen.

How could it be born? With a sound body and sound mind. Here the medical requirements treated only as "pork" at many places are taken very seriously. Regularly evaluated suitability conditions are presenting adequate weight index, limited smoking, existence of favourable combined fitness index. Temporary suitability is registered as well. He is not suitable, who has a decease resulting in that, do not cooperate in settlement of the risk factors properly, whose complex fitness index is worse than satisfactory. They use all kinds of means in order that all of them could meet the hard requirements. Besides the daily yoga, relaxation, physical education controlled by experts, they keep cooperation, communication, emergency-treatment, regeneration, personality developing trainings, study the change management, quality issues in intensive course. In short: the firemen of the nuclear power plant have to take part in 50 trainings, exams.

Many people are interested in what kind of devices, special equipment they use. Three Rosenbauer fire-engines, a Mercedes vehicle with container, a 60 metre Simon vehicle with lifting basket are available for them. Besides thousands of others, they have movement detector instruments, light foam generators, all kinds of gas-, heat and chemical protective clothing, (it is also important) set of pipe-stops, smoke- aspirator, Auer Argus camera, Ravtek PM Plus remote thermometer.

They do not deny being very proud of that they introduced a set of quality into the world of the Hungarian fire service. (It is another question that they have had very few followers so far. It does not depend on them: they willingly help the commanderships wishing to develop.)
Their system of performance evaluation would be worth a separate "mass". The silly reasoning that is sweated out from them at many commanderships, are bad from the very beginning, because they are formal and terribly subjective. Beauty spot or quick-cutter in the hand of the critic, to his liking. The firemen of the nuclear power plant said goodbye to it. They elaborated a point system, which serves as the base of the monthly salary. According to objective data the firemen themselves can count out what they can wait in their envelope: it depends on their basic points, position, qualifications, preparedness, being trained, medical state, and only one (perhaps) subjective element: the opinion of their direct commander. (Of course, he has to reason it, and if he was wrong or "was wrong", he undermines his own judgement.) Besides the judgment of their personal performance, the team performance of those controlled by them appears in the evaluation of the officers. Here everybody's performance depends on that of everybody else. It is all right in this way.

If anybody thought that the success of the fire service in the nuclear power plant could be due to the maintainer's financial possibilities, he is quite wrong. They could swim in lukewarm water either from the same resources. Their power is in their resoluteness, determination, establishment of the balance of requirements and conditions, appreciation of the values, continuous desire for something new, better. So mainly in their heads.
We can tell those with sour faces, searching for objections as self-justification that if they have the smallest doubt relating to those mentioned concerning the fire service of Paks Nuclear Power Plant (straightforwardly he is sceptical) not to hesitate, but go over it.

János A. Kiss