ENEN RU E&T FORUM

Established by ENEN and RosatomTech through the signature of a Memorandum of Cooperation

The European Nuclear Education Network and the Rosatom Technical Academy have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in the field of nuclear education on 16 April 2019.

As an envisaged result and follow up of the EURATOM Research and Training funding programme funded project ENEN RU II project, “Strengthening of Cooperation and Exchange for Nuclear Education and Training between the European Union and the Russian Federation” both entities, ENEN and RosatomTech, agreed to continue their constructive and productive collaboration over the years, with the creation of a Joint Forum on Education and Training in the field of nuclear science and technology (ENEN-RU E&T Forum).

The memorandum was signed by ENEN’s President Prof. Leon Cizelj and its Executive Director Pedro Diéguez on the European side, and by Prof. Yury Seleznev, Rector of Rosatom Technical Academy, on the Russian side. On the picture, the latest two, present at the signature event.

The signing event took place with the occasion of the AtomExpo conference in Sochi, Russian Federation, followed by a practical workshop where the signatory institutions invited project partner institutions and partners: Czech Technical University in Prague, Risk Engineering Ltd., University Politechnica Bucharest, Tecnatom, National Research Nuclear University “MEPhI”, Tomsk Polytechnic University, Lomonosov Moscow State University.

The document uniting educational organizations in Russia and Europe is focused on preserving and further developing knowledge in the field of nuclear science and technology, expanding the cooperation framework for research activities and joint participation of universities in international projects HORIZON 2020 and OECD / NEA NEST, as an example.

Preparatory meeting of the ENEN RU E&T Forum

On 27 February 2019 a preparatory meeting to plan the establishment of the ENEN RU E& T Forum took place in Brussels, the day before of the ENEN PLUS – ANNETTE Networking event, organised with the ocasion of the ENEN General Assembly on 1 March 2019.

The meeting took place in the office building of ENEN and the guest participant organizations were:

  • Rosatom Technical Academy (RosatomTech)
  • National Research Nuclear University “MEPhI” (NRNU MEPhI)
  • Lomonosov Moscow State University
  • Saint Petersburg State University
  • Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK-CEN), Belgium
  • Ceske Vysoke Uceni Techniske V Praze (CTU), Czech Republic
  • Universität Stuttgart (IKE), Germany
  • University Politehnica Bucharest (UPB), Romania
  • Slovenska Techniska Univerzita v Bratislave (STUB), Slovakia
  • University of Manchester (UM), United Kingdom
  • Tecnatom (TEC), Spain
  • Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME), Hungary

Coordinator on the European side: ENEN

  • European Nuclear Education Network, Belgium
  • Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK-CEN), Belgium
  • Ceske Vysoke Uceni Techniske V Praze, Czech Republic
  • Centrum Vyzkumu Rez S.R.O (CV REZ), Czech Republic
  • Universität Stuttgart (IKE), Germany
  • Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Germany
  • Consorzio Interuniversitario Nazionale per la Ricerca Tecnologica Nucleare (CIRTEN), Italy
  • University Politehnica Bucharest, Romania
  • Slovenska Techniska Univerzita v Bratislave, Slovakia
  • The University of Manchester, United Kingdom
  • Tecnatom, Spain
  • Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary
  • Risk Engineering Ltd., Bulgaria

Coordinator on the Russian side: RosatomTech

  • State Atomic Energy Corporation “ROSATOM”
  • Rosatom Technical Academy (RosatomTech)
  • Consortium of ROSATOM Core Universities
  • National Research Nuclear University “MEPhI” (NRNU MEPhI)
  • Tomsk Polytechnic University
  • Lomonosov Moscow State University
  • Saint Petersburg State University
  • Urals State Technical University
  • Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University n.a. R.E. Alekseev
  • Federal State Unitary Enterprise “State Scientific Centre of the Russian Federation–Institute for Physics and Power Engineering named after A. I. Leypunsky” (FSUE “SSC RF–IPPE”).

For additional reference:

The ENEN RU and ENEN RU II projects were launched and implemented in compliance with Agreement for cooperation between the European Atomic Energy Community and the Government of the Russian Federation in the field of nuclear safety dated on October 3rd, 2001. Each ENEN RU project is structured as two parallel projects running on each side.

The funding on the European side was made available by the EURATOM Research and Training programme.

  • The ENEN-RU I project started on January 1st, 2011, for a period of three years, concluding in 2014.
  • The ENEN-RU II project started on July 1st, 2014 for a period of three years, concluding in 2017.

LATEST UPDATES – MAY 2021

At the end of May 2021 Rosatom Technical Academy together with the European Nuclear Education Network (ENEN) organized a Kick-off meeting of the “ENEN-RU Joint Working Group”.

The main objectives of the event were:

  • to have an update of the proposals of the parties in educational and research areas,
  • to expand the composition of the Joint Working Group (JWG)
  • and to shape the parameters of joint educational projects, including joint educational programs in five areas:
      1. innovative reactor technologies,
      2. advanced nuclear fuel cycles,
      3. decommissioning and management of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste,
      4. planning and assessment of energy systems, non-power applications of nuclear
      5. and radiation technologies.

“It is very important that the internationalization is going on and the collaboration on education and training will develop in the future, – said ENEN President Professor Jörg Starflinger in his speech. – Under the new framework of the ENEN-RU Joint Working Group given the challenges at the European and global scale our joint activities will elaborate education, training, and research actions aimed at fostering capacity building, knowledge exchange, and preservation in the fields of advanced nuclear technologies in support of sustainable development of nuclear power as a clean and low-emission source and the non-power applications”.

The JWG was attended by 29 representatives from universities and industrial organizations from Russia and Europe, namely Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic., Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia. ROSATOM partner universities were represented by participants from National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Nizhniy Novgorod State Technical University, Tomsk Polytechnic University, Ural Federal University, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University.

“Long-term interaction in the field of nuclear education, training, and scientific research confirms the relevance and importance of the direct dialogue between the Russian and European organizations, – outlined Valery Karezin, Director of the project office for Education development and international cooperation of ROSATOM. – A notable example of practical interaction was the creation of the ENEN-RU Joint Working Group. We consider this experience to be an important international initiative”.

Within the framework of the ENEN General Assembly 2020 the ENEN-RU JWG was established, its composition was approved and the co-chairs from each side were appointed: ENEN Executive Director Gabriel PAVEL and Vice-Rector of the Rosatom Tech Pavel ZHURAVLEV.

“First of all, the ENEN-RU Joint Working Group is a practical basis for joint projects between Russian and European educational and research organizations, – explained Pavel Zhuravlev, vice-rector – director of the Department for International cooperation and international business development of Rosatom Technical Academy. – The work is aimed at building real interaction between the parties on five key topics in the field of advanced nuclear technologies. By the next event, scheduled for autumn, having the results of today’s meeting as a basis, we intend to prepare proposals for bilateral and multilateral projects for detailed study in groups”.

During the work of the ENEN-RU JWG Kick-off meeting, the European side expressed interest in topics related to SMR and their use for district heating, Generation-IV reactors and NPP safety issues. Non-power applications of nuclear energy, in particular, research reactors, medical physics, and materials irradiation techniques were also mentioned as topics of interest. Parties noted the practical significance of faculty members and students exchanges, scientific visits, development of joint educational programs, reciprocal accreditation of programs, and the need for greater involvement of the experimental facilities of Russian universities and industry organizations in the joint projects.

The next ENEN-RU JWG meeting will be held in Autumn 2021 in the format of the hybrid special event “Advanced Nuclear Technologies and their development through Educational and Academic Cooperation”.