Wiener schnitzel, the Alps and Atoms for peace


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During Vattenfall International Trainee Program each trainee does at least 16 weeks of assignments. This time I did a short but very interesting assignment at IAEA in Vienna. IAEA stands for the International atomic energy agency and seeks to promote safe, secure and peaceful nuclear technologies. This includes much more than nuclear power! IAEA works with for example radiation protection within medical treatment and mining operation, many different industrial applications, marine environment and food and water safety. The staffs at IAEA have a great knowledge and it was very interesting to talk to them about their work and experiences. I also got the opportunity to attend a conference about Fukushima which was very rewarding to listen to.

In the end of the week my boyfriend came to Vienna and we finished the week with a nice road trip through Austria. 

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A nice week in Copenhagen :)


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About two weeks ago I was at a seminar week in Copenhagen together with the other trainees. The first day we talked about communication and did a intressting exercise about communication in big and hierarchical companies. We talked about what is hard with communication in big companies and what is important to do to be able to succeed.

The two upcoming days we talked about cultural differences. We talked among other things about similarities and differences in the many cultures within Vattenfall and how it is important to be aware and be able to use our differences in a positive and constructive way. I especially liked the exercise were all of us presented the culture of the country that we grow up in.

Another thing I really appreciated was the study visit to Lillgrund wind power park. I learned a lot more about wind power and it was quite cool to be in a boat surrounded by almost 50 wind power plants.

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From the top of a wind power station


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Nuclear power, wave power, wind power and nuclear waste management are all very interesting subjects and something that all of us Swedish trainees would like to explore further. Therefore we went on a small study tour within Sweden. The trip was not organized by the trainee program but something we organized by ourselves.

The first day we went to Ringhals nuclear power plant. The first stop was at the information center where we were allowed to hold a uranium pellet. Secondly we visited the reactor hall at Ringhals 1, which is a reactor of a model called boiling water reactor.

Early in the morning of the second day we travelled by car to Lysekil to visit Seabased, which is company that are researching and developing wave power. At Seabased we were given a lot of information and saw some of the plants that later would be placed into the sea. I did not know that much about wave power before so it was interesting to learn about the basics.

After a quick lunch we continued our journey to Brålanda where we visited a wind power station. We climbed the whole way up to the top which was an amazing experience. The wind power station was 107 meters high, so it was a bit of an exercise to climb the whole way up. From the top we had a remarkable view and it was very exciting to see what the mill looked like from the inside and get to know more about how it functions.

On our third day we visited SKB: s facilities in Oskarshamn. SKB is an abbreviation for Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB (Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company). There we visited Canister laboratory and Äspö hard rock laboratory, two research labs which focus on nuclear fuel management and Clab, the Swedish interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel. I did my master thesis within radioactive waste management and I have earlier during the trainee program done an assignment at SFR (Swedish: Slutförvaret för kortlivat radioaktivt avfall, English: Final repository for short-lived radioactive waste). Radioactive waste management is a subject that I am very interesting in so it was great to have the opportunity to visit the facilities in Oskarshamn. I would like to thank everyone who have helped and guided us on our study tour. It was three extraordinary days!

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Seminar week in Amsterdam and Brussels


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Last week all the trainees met up in Amsterdam for the fourth seminar. The three first days we were working with personal development. We talked about values, thoughts and behavior. The part that I found the most interesting was when we discussed the DISC-model, which is a model that describes different personalities. The week before, we had all done a computer based test about our behaviors. We also sent out the same test to family, friends and work mates to see if they have the same view of us as we do. It was fun to see how well the model described us and how you could recognize yourself in different behaviors.

Even if the days were very intense, we did have some time for socializing. Vattenfall has a national trainee program in Amsterdam and we met up these trainees for a nice dinner. We also had time for a boat tour on the cozy canals of Amsterdam.  

On Thursday we went to visit the Nuon office, which is the Vattenfall office in Amsterdam. There we had a presentation about the history of Nuon and an about wonders. I also held a presentation about nuclear power and radiation which was very appreciated by the other trainees. I enjoy giving lectures and explaining how things function so it was fun to do it.   

Thursday afternoon we took the train to Brussels in order to visit the Vattenfall office and the European parliament on Friday. To sum everything up I must say that it was an intense but interesting week and I am looking forward to meet everybody again during the next seminar in Copenhagen in May.

The whole group at the European Parliament

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Training in the control room at the nuclear power plant


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This week I did something very interesting. I did something that we at Ringhals call ”skiftlagspraktik” which means a shorter training period in the control room at one of the nuclear reactors. It was very nice to see how it works in reality and see many of the different objects and processes that I read about in my daily work. I was at Ringhals unit 3 which is a reactor of a model called pressurized water reactor. In the control room you control and regulate the processes in the plant. I tried many different duties for example daily controls, both in the control room and in the actual plant, and periodic tests of different systems. This is done to make sure that everything works as planned and that different safety systems are functionable if they are needed. All controls and tests worked out as planned and were under control. I worked with a nice and friendly team and their running of the power plant felt very safe. One of the most exciting experiences was that I, under supervision and instructions from an experienced reactor operator, was allowed to participate in a routinely regulation of the boric acid concentration. Boric acid absorbs the neutrons that are used in the fission process. By regulating the concentration you can control the number of fissions of uranium that occur. If you decrease the boric acid concentration you will receive more fissions of uranium. This means that more heat is released and that the reactor temperature is increased. By doing this I have actually run and regulated a nuclear reactor. It might sound a little bit geeky but how many people have actually been able to do that?

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Hello and very welcome to my trainee blog!


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My name is Matilda and I am a participator in Vattenfall International Trainee program. In this first entry, I will tell you some about myself, the trainee program and the work that I do.

I am 25 years old and was born in Landvetter outside Gothenburg. I have always liked the nature and in my spare time I like to do all kind of outdoor life like kayaking, hiking in the mountains or just strolling in the forests with some friends. When I was 19 I went to Scotland where I studied and worked as an Au pair. After half a year filled with bagpipes, Loch Ness Monsters and whiskey I came back to Sweden and began my studies in chemical engineering at Chalmers University of Technology. It was a great time full of laughs, friends, farcical funs and of course studying. I chose a master called Sustainable Energy System, which gave me a wide knowledge about the energy sector. During my last semester I chose a couple of courses within nuclear engineering and finished my studies by doing my master thesis within radioactive waste management at Ringhals nuclear power plant.

Last autumn I started as a trainee in Vattenfall International Trainee program. The program runs for twelve months and consists of six weeks of seminars together with the other trainees from the program and approximately four months of assignments somewhere within the Vattenfall organization. During the seminar weeks we get a good mixture of for example technology, knowledge about Vattenfall, visits to power plants, energy facts and management and you can really feel that they invest a lot in us.

When you apply to the program you apply to a special position that is already connected to one of Vattenfalls offices or plants. My position is called Nuclear engineering and I work at the technical department at Ringhals reactor unit 3 and 4. At my department we mostly work with a special document called Safety Analysis Report, SAR. This document describes how to ensure that the nuclear power plant is safe. Our responsibility is to make sure that this document describes what the power plant looks like and that we follow the current legislation. My work is associated with a broad assortment of many different technologies.

Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about the program or the work that I do. 

//Matilda

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