Russia will increase uranium exploration and mining effort, said Sergey Donskoy, the Head of the Ministry of Natural Resources. The need in planned build-up of resources and reserves of uranium is conditioned by the strategic nature of this feed material, current and future needs of ROSATOM in uranium, as well as the growing demand in uranium on the world market, which is overcoming consequences of the catastrophe at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima. “In the nearest time it is necessary to work out a set of measures to stabilize uranium mining at the operating enterprises in Russia and to ensure its consistent build-up, including through modern technological and organizational solutions,” Donskoy said. He charged the related agencies to work on a possibility of using incentives regarding large low-profit uranium mining projects, for instance, an instrument, such as the production-sharing contracts/agreements. He also directed to consider a possibility of liberalization of access to geological studies, exploration and mining of uranium for non-ROSATOM minerals developers.

Exactly half of contracted toroidal field conductors for the ITER magnetic system were sent, under control of the Russian Domestic Agency ITER, to Ansaldo’s plant (ASG Superconductor) in Spezia, Italy, under the equipment supply contract. This milestone was achieved owing to successful effort of nuclear workers from the National Research Center Kurchatov Institute. All conductors are intended for curling to make coils of the ITER toroidal field, which is to confine the toroidal pinch in equilibrium inside the vacuum chamber of the machine. Remaining 14 toroidal field superconductor sections should be delivered before the end of 2015, as per the contract terms.

The Moscow Power Engineering Institute, which is part of ROSATOM’s core higher educational establishments consortium, will educate Azerbaijani students in the field of atomic energy. The bilateral cooperation issues were discussed at a meeting of Rector of the Institute Nikolay Rogolev and Minister of Communications and High Technology of Azerbaijan Ali Abbasov in Baku. Minister Abbasov noted the importance of the succession pool development where universities played a special role. Conditions for educating nuclear specialists have been created both in the country and outside. “We believe that the Moscow Power Engineering Institute can join this program and we would like to have 10 Azerbaijani students been educated in this high education establishment commencing the new academic year,” the minister said.