Title: Management Bodies: Management in Nuclear Energy Field

Biography:

Andranik Hakobyan, currently a Senior State Inspector at the Armenian Nuclear Regulatory Authority, has 14 years of experience in Nuclear Safety, having worked on complex projects in the nuclear energy sector, both domestic and international, and become familiar with International Atomic Energy Agency systems and guidelines. Over his 14-year career, Hakobyan has developed extensive experience in regulations-drafting, regulatory inspections, licensing, NPP life extension regulatory evaluation, and risk management evaluation, among other skills. With a result-driven attitude, an ability to work constructively and as a member of team, negotiation skills honed throughout his career and the attention to detail necessary of a nuclear regulator, Hakobyan’s years of experience coupled with his work ethic make him an asset to any team.

Abstract

In the context of growing energy demands to fuel economic growth and development, climate change concerns and price volatility of fossil fuels, and in consideration of substantially improved safety and performance records of nuclear power plants, some 60 countries have expressed interest in considering, actively planning or expanding nuclear power.

As recent experience in construction shows, there is a list of challenges, such as construction schedules of nuclear power plants, the complexity of the vendor-customer relationship, length of the supply chain, the globalization of the nuclear industry, and, of course, safety culture.

it is recognized that the lack of proper project management skills is one of the major factors that has been attributed to the safety of nuclear power plants as well as licensing requirements, public intervention, suppliers, and funding problems.

Nuclear accidents have been perceived and considered as global issues since they have worldwide implications on agriculture, land use, fishery, tourism, transport, and trade. Therefore, lessons learned are taken into consideration by NPP design and research organizations and by the managers in all phases of a new nuclear power development program from the regulatory requirements to the site selection phase, pre-construction and licensing phase, and to all successive project implementation phases, including construction, commissioning, and operations.

Management in the nuclear energy field is an integrating activity and its description requires first an understanding of associated functions such as engineering, quality assurance, procurement, and accounting. It comprises leadership functions primarily concerned with the organization, coordination, and control of large human, equipment, and material undertakings with the aim of achieving technical excellence by working to quality standards, optimizing the schedule, the supply chain and minimizing costs. Competent project management can reduce costs through more efficient work sequences, higher productivity shorter activity durations, and the parallel reduction of accumulated interest during construction.