The coolness of iron

Attila Bánki talks about the millimetre-precise fitting of the two elements of a zone trap like a connoisseur talks about the tiny detail of a magnificent painting or a finely tuned piece of music. "It was fantastic when we went to the factory for an inspection and saw this huge piece of equipment for the first time in reality, something we had only seen on paper, in drawings or on 3D models. It's an indescribable feeling when you hold the iron, feel the coolness, experience the huge dimensions"," he recalls of a few weeks ago, when he and his colleagues visited the factory in Russia to take delivery of the first large-scale installation of the new nuclear power plant. "I really enjoyed it. It was like a playground for engineers"," he says, describing how it felt to walk through the 15-metre-high, 730-tonne piece of equipment. And, as he says, despite its enormity, it is built with extraordinary precision, its joints are millimetre-precise.

"It was exciting, but everything is exciting in this project."

Powerhouse milieu

In Attila Bánki's family, he is not the first to be "caught in the smoke of the locomotive". His father, with a degree in mechanical and materials engineering from Dunaújváros, worked at the Paks nuclear power plant. The family therefore moved from Dombóvár to Szekszárd. Attila studied as a technician at the then Rózsa Ferenc Vocational School and spent his apprenticeship in the early 1990s in the communications department of the nuclear power plant. This was not his first experience of life and the environment at the power plant. He had the opportunity to participate in many power plant family events and team-building activities. And, as he notes, the people he played with as a child at these "PAV" (Paks Atomic Power Plant) events later became colleagues.

"I really liked the atmosphere, but even more the work and the nuclear power plant itself."

And since his father spoke enthusiastically about his college years and the traditions there, he followed him in this respect: he began his higher education in Dunaújváros. At the same time, he worked at the AGMI Materials Testing and Quality Control Zrt. at the nuclear power plant. "I participated in the eddy current testing of the steam generator, in the material tests of the reactor vessel and even in the manual material tests of the whole primary circuit" - he explains his attachment, which is so strong that some people almost call it love. In any case, Attila loves material testing, and he is completely fascinated by a weld seam, which encourages him to see what's inside. He says that this work is never monotonous, there is always something new to be found, and new technologies are always emerging, just like in medicine, for example. First there was conventional ultrasound, then phase-controlled scans, 3D, 4D. In the same way, ultrasound non-destructive testing of materials has developed in industry.

Cathedral and materials testing

Before we get lost in the mysteries of materials testing, let's look back at Attila Bánki's career. Having enjoyed his time at the Dunaújváros College (now the University), he stayed on to teach, with degrees in computer science, engineering and teaching. Of course, he did not move away from the nuclear power plant, he continued to be involved in the material tests of the primary circuit as an external contractor, and also gained experience in other types of power plants - in Pécs, Százhalombatta, Tiszaújváros.

Meanwhile, in 2007, he obtained another degree at the University of Veszprém, where he even considered teaching, but was eventually lured by Paks: he was assigned to the nuclear power plant's mechanical ultrasonic materials testing group as a materials testing engineer. Among other things, he had to develop and carry out the qualification procedure for machine tests for several main installations according to the Nuclear Safety Regulations and the Nuclear Authority's requirements, which, he adds, is also on the agenda for the Paks II project, so it was a great preparation.

Where every task is exciting

In 2015, Attila Bánki joined the company in charge of building new nuclear power plant units at the invitation of a former colleague. First as Chief Technical Analyst, then as Chief Quality Control Specialist, then as Project Manager for Production and Procurement Licences, later as Head of Technical Technology, he now joins the Programme Directorate as Programme Element Officer. This, he says, is only natural for such an evolving organisation at different stages of its development. First the focus was on design and permitting, now it's on manufacturing and construction.

He is also clearly passionate about his current job."I've been given a really exciting job. I really like it. We're talking about approximately 350,000 pieces of equipment, systems and system components for the two blocks. You have to get the necessary permits for these. My main task is to ensure that all the equipment is completed on schedule, to the right quality and delivered to the site. To do this, the technical basis documents, the licence applications, the official permits, the nuclear certification if necessary, must be ready in time, and production must begin. This requires the coordinated work of several disciplines, because, for example, while the licence application is the responsibility of the Technical Directorate, the production is initiated, controlled and monitored by the Programme Quality Department, as are the transport, storage and assembly after the acceptance of the plant", he explains.

As he says, a significant proportion of the 350,000 installations do not fall under the same licensing regime, with some subject to authorisation, others subject to notification and others subject to information. He is regularly involved in technical document reviews, on-site audits and factory inspections. He and his colleagues are currently working on the transport of the zone melt trap to Paks and on ad hoc tasks related to the production of the reactor vessel, including a mission to Russia, as the production of the vessel, also known as the heart of the nuclear power plant, has just started.

"It's a fast-paced world, there are always new challenges, and solving them is a cross-organisational activity. Beyond the staff, you have to keep in touch with the main contractor, the manufacturers."