Duplicate management teams will be put in place in the Russian nuclear industry to help maintain industry manageability in the context of the coronavirus infection, according to Alexei Likhachev, director general of state nuclear corporation Rosatom.
Likhachev explained that a decision had been taken to form and train backup staff for all managers - in the central office of Rosatom in Moscow, in divisions of the state corporation and at companies.
“Leaders and their understudies must maintain constant contact, but be distant from each other. This will allow us to keep the entire management system operational in case of illness of one of the leaders,” he said.
Rosatom manages about 400 enterprises and organisations, including the world's only nuclear icebreaker fleet. Employees total around 250,000.
Likhachev said the number of coronavirus infections in nuclear cities is growing. The Russian nuclear industry had 47 active cases, with 31 people recovered as of 21 April.
However, Likhachev also pointed out that any crisis is not only a time of loss, but the opportunity for new growth.
“The crisis of 2008 opened the way for the explosive development of entire sectors of the domestic economy. So this crisis generated by the epidemic will give us new perspectives.”
