Implementing Rosatom Production System (RPS) Interdepartmental Project Significantly Reduced Timing of State Expert Evaluation at Production Facilities of ROSATOM’s Mining Division

This was the conclusion reached by the participants of the meeting that summed up the intermediate results of the pilot project «Optimization of Procedures for Planning and Passing the State Expert Evaluation». Vladimir Verkhovtsev, Director General, Atomredmetzoloto, JSC also emphasized that the working group had managed to implement the RPS project even amid the pandemic. He added: «Over this time, we have carried out an important work, the results of which will be beneficial for all enterprises in our industry that are engaged in the construction of capital facility projects that are subject to state expert evaluation». The main goal of the joint «pilot» was to optimize the time required for state expert evaluation without prejudice to the quality. The activities implemented by the working group have shown their effectiveness on the example of the expert evaluation of the design documents and the results of engineering surveys for the construction project at Mine No. 6 of Priargunsky Industrial Mining and Chemical Union, PJSC (managed by ARMZ Uranium Holding Co.). In addition, for testing the joint «pilot», they selected the project «Pilot Industrial Site of In-Situ Leaching of Uranium at the Dobrovolnoye Deposit (Kurgan Region)». The interdepartmental working group includes representatives of the Main State Expert Evaluation Board (Glavgosekspertiza) of Russia, the RPS Directorate of ROSATOM State Atomic Energy Corporation; ARMZ Uranium Holding Co.; Dalur, JSC, and VNIPIpromtekhnologii, JSC.

Vladimir Verkhovtsev, Director General, ARMZ Uranium Holding Co., noted at the joint meeting of representatives of ROSATOM State Atomic Energy Corporation and Glavgosekspertiza of Russia following the project results: «Participation in such a project is a landmark event for us. We have been given a unique opportunity to learn the work processes of the main experts in the national construction industry. We tried to apply the methods of continuous improvement of processes in order to reduce the time of expert evaluation and to improve the quality of our planning. And I can say that we did it». The members of the interdepartmental working group analyzed all stages of preparing design documents and passing the expert evaluation; based on the information obtained, they made several amendments to the engineering and administrative algorithms for electronic communications. As a result, they drew up the target map of the process, which will further optimize the timeframes for expert evaluation of project documents without deteriorating the quality. In particular, as part of the pilot project, they took measures to reduce the data transfer time, to eliminate any duplicate and unnecessary procedures. In addition, the pilot project to optimize the procedure for passing the expert evaluation used the lean production principles, which form the basis of the RPS strategy. First of all, the lean production culture means striving to see the sources of losses on time and looking for all possible reserves to eliminate them.

«We approached the design and expert evaluation as a technological process that can be correctly configured and adjusted to reduce costs incurred at each stage and to increase the general project efficiency», as stated by the members of the interdepartmental working group of Rosatom and Glavgosekspertiza of Russia.

Rosatom’s representatives emphasized that one of the effective tools for improving the project documentation quality was the use of consulting services from Glavgosekspertiza of Russia, that help in preparing qualified clarifications on the applicant’s questions related to compliance with technical regulations and other regulatory requirements.

Igor Manylov, the Head of Glavgosekspertiza explained: «Under this project, we have implemented the possibility of starting the procedure for reviewing design documents at the pre-design stage, which allows our customers to take into account our comments in advance, to promptly make the relevant adjustments, thereby minimizing the number of errors, and, therefore, the time for passing the expert evaluation. Today, all our departments are working according to this algorithm». He added that the preliminary application service is another control tool for the authorities that are now able to track the progress of implementing budget investment projects as soon as at the stage of preparing applications for expert evaluation.

According to Igor Manylov, «The new Rosatom’s pilot project will be submitted for expert evaluation in August and considered according to the same algorithm». In addition, in order to reduce the number of procurement procedures and to increase the speed of preparation for expert evaluation, Rosatom plans to enter into a framework agreement with Glavgosekspertiza of Russia, providing for an electronic format for contractual documents.

«During the project implementation, we obtained a mutually beneficial positive effect that allows for our further effective interaction. It makes sense to extend the results of the RPS project to other users of expert evaluation services. We propose to hold a client session for other customers with the involvement of Rosatom representatives», as reported by Sergey Suetin, the Head of the Project Support Department of Glavgosekspertiza of Russia.

The pilot project implemented on the basis of the Rosatom Production System is one of the work stages of Glavgosekspertiza of Russia and ROSATOM State Atomic Energy Corporation under the Memorandum of Strategic Partnership, which was signed by the heads of both agencies in 2018.