According to Saara Menonen, Olkiluoto is a good and interesting workplace for several reasons
For Team Leader working on nuclear safety issues, people and versatile career paths are highlights in Olkiluoto.
- Top experts and top dudes in all fields work here. Another thing that I like here is the way the work community helps and supports one another, she says.
Her own job has during her four years at TVO mainly been related to nuclear safety planning. First as an expert and then as a Team Leader. In between the two positions, she also spent some time getting acquainted with the world of projects as a Risk Management Expert.
Originally from Ulvila near Pori, Saara Menonen is an MSc in Environmental Engineering and Energy Technology. Having studied in Tampere, her first job took her to Turku. Then life intervened and brought her back to Pori and she found a new job at TVO.
Menonen started in Olkiluoto in December 2018, which means the now Team Leader of Risk Analyses has been a TVO employee for almost exactly four years. She started in the same team that she now leads, but then as a Risk Analysis Engineer. She assumed the managerial position in the autumn of 2020. That was the high point of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- In fact, I recently got to thinking that I have only been in charge of the team with everybody working in the office for a very short period of time so far, Menonen states.
And although Menonen's team still utilises the hybrid model to a large extent, she is personally happy with the current state of affairs,
- It is a lot easier in many ways, however, now that we are able to occasionally meet also face-to-face, she says and tells that she works about 50/50 from home and in the office.
Focus on nuclear safety
The tasks of Saara Menonen and her team revolve around nuclear safety.- Our team is tasked with calculating the probability of a severe nuclear accident in Olkiluoto, she explains and hastens to add that fortunately the figure is really low.
And of course, Menonen's team focuses on ensuring that the figures are even lower in the future.
- The key issue is to identify potential risks and come up with a way to deal with them, she describes.
In addition to overall nuclear safety in Olkiluoto, Saara's team is kept busy by the conduct of safety analyses for various projects.
- That is the real selling item of our team, she says. In the annual cycle, work is determined by reporting tasks early in the year followed participation in the planning of annual outages, which defines the spring months. The rest of the year then continues with a steady work load.
- Safety analyses, for example, are conducted the whole year round.
A win-win equation for everybody
Menonen's team consists of 7 people apart from herself, all experts.- People with degrees in technology and physics, Menonen describes her team. There is a wide sphere of knowledge in the team.
- We need expertise in several different fields of technology in our team. Energy and nuclear power technology as well as electrical engineering, and also chemistry which was also my own major subject, Menonen counts.
As a leader of a team of experts, one needs to be a good judge of character. Mutual trust within the team is also important.
- For myself, the biggest source of content in my work is getting the opportunity to assign one of my team members to a task where they can take advantage of their own strengths and knowledge to produce a result. With the right people doing the right thing, everybody wins, the Team Leader sums up her feelings.
Another factor that Menonen considers to be a strength of working in Olkiluoto is the high number of different career paths available to people.
- If you express an interest in something specific here, very often you will find yourself doing it at some point. There are countless opportunities here to develop both yourself and your tasks, she says.
A new hobby
In her free time, Saara's favourite place is either the home couch or the nature, particularly the woods. Her number one hobby, orienteering, has made her intimately acquainted with forests. Foraging for mushrooms and berries is also something she knows well, but another activity is a more recent acquaintance, as this summer she acquired a hunting licence.
- This was a completely new activity and culture for me, but one that has proven enjoyable and a new way to observe nature, Menonen explains. So far, she has mainly had pigeons in her crosshairs.
Text and Image: Ville Kulmala
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