On January 14, the first meeting of the year was held at the Energoatom office, marking the start of a series of educational lectures and thematic events commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster. Children of Zaporizhzhia NPP employees attended the event – those who grew up near the plant and had nuclear energy as part of their everyday life. Currently, given their hometown and enterprise having been occupied, they have the opportunity to symbolically “return home,” to feel a connection with their parents' profession and with the environment in which their understanding of responsibility and safety was formed.
Young supporters of the nuclear power industry, Maxym and Mykhailo, who have long been deeply interested in this field, were also special guests at the event. We will provide more information about them in a separate publication on our information resources.
The meeting took the form of a lecture-discussion entitled “How Chornobyl’s lessons were learned in nuclear energy and what fundamental changes have taken place in the nuclear sector” and covered a wide range of topics – from the timeline of events in 1986 and the conditions leading to the Chornobyl accident in the totalitarian USSR, to modern approaches and management decisions in the field of nuclear safety that determine the industry's work today.
The meeting program combined a substantive conversation with live impressions: participants familiarized themselves with a model of the Zaporizhzhia NPP, took a virtual “live” tour of Ukraine's nuclear power plants using augmented reality glasses, tested a dosimeter, took part in a thematic quiz, and received souvenirs and issue-related literature from Energoatom as a memento of the meeting.
The year 2026 will mark the 40th anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster, and for NNEGC “Energoatom”, this date has not only memorial significance but also strategic importance. The planned series of meetings is a way to talk honestly and responsibly with the younger generation about the complex history, the lessons learned, and how the modern nuclear industry has turned tragedy into the foundation of a new safety culture. For participants, these meetings are not just lectures, but also a source of support, a sense of belonging, and a sense of faith in the future. For Energoatom, this is work for the future, forming a conscious, prepared, and motivated community that will be responsible for the country's energy security tomorrow.
