Nuclear power plants. On June 4, a formal ceremony was held at the site in the Farish District of the Jizzakh Region in Uzbekistan to mark the start of construction for the first power unit of the integrated nuclear power plant. Workers poured first concrete for the basemat. During the ceremony, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev gave permission to commence construction of the first unit via a video link. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi delivered a welcoming address to the guests. The plant is being built under the world’s first export contract for the construction of small modular reactors (SMRs). It will comprise two large power units with VVER-1000 reactors and two smaller 55 MW units with RITM-200N reactors. “Once commissioned, the nuclear power plant will be able to meet up to 14% of the country’s electricity demand. This will give a new impetus to the industrial, technological, and economic development of the country,” said Andrey Petrov, First Deputy Director General for Nuclear Energy at Rosatom.

Science. The Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP) and the MBIR International Research Center Consortium Leader have signed a cooperation agreement. The document outlines joint research programs in the development of controlled thermonuclear fusion. ASIPP is interested in conducting tests on materials capable of withstanding the extreme thermal and neutron loads typical of a burning plasma. “The MBIR research reactor’s capabilities make it highly sought-after for solving a wide range of tasks — from testing innovative materials to validating closed nuclear fuel cycle technologies. The International Research Center that will operate the reactor is becoming a magnet for leading scientific organizations, and we are glad that ASIPP sees it as a platform for implementing its ambitious research plans,” Vasily Konstantinov, CEO of the MBIR IRC Consortium Leader, commented.

Education. The 3rd Russia-IAEA Regional School on Research Reactors has concluded in Moscow. The event brought together young professionals and experts from 12 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Malaysia, Kenya, and Rwanda. The school’s program was structured as a progressive deep dive into Russian research and educational competencies. School attendees visited the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, where they learned about the physics of neutron sources and toured the IBR-2 pulsed research reactor, as well as the site of the NICA mega-science collider project. In Obninsk, they participated in lectures on the production of radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals. The attendees also visited the Medical Radiological Research Center, the world’s first nuclear power plant, and the IRT research reactor at the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI. The school concluded with a visit to the Atom Museum at the VDNH Exhibition Center in Moscow.