OREANDA-NEWS. March 14, 2008. The Council on Cooperation in Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy of the Integration Committee of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) is holding its second meeting at TsNIIATOMINFORM Moscow on Mar 14.

Even though the Council was set up quite recently — in July 2007 – it is already starting specific practical actions. During the meeting the Council is planning to discuss a number of crucial problems.

The key issue on the agenda is the draft concept of the inter-state target program for the re-cultivation of the territories of EurAsEC member states that have been contaminated by uranium mining facilities and other radioactive productions. The concept has been suggested by the Federal Agency for Nuclear Energy and is aimed at guaranteeing the radiation safety of the territories of EurAsEC member states and protecting the health of the people living over those territories. The program will be tested at the most radioactive facilities in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan (two facilities in each country). The results of the pilot projects will be used by all EurAsEC member states.

The Council will also discuss Russia’s initiative to establish a EurAsEC international center for training of personnel in the field of peaceful use of nuclear energy. Russian and Kazakh universities have drafted an agreement for the establishment of a EurAsEC international nuclear innovative consortium. Higher schools of Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have joined the initiative.

The rector of Moscow Engineering Physics Institute M.Strikhanov will tell the Council about the project to establish a federal nuclear university on the basis of MEPhI. The university will have a center for preservation of nuclear knowledge for training of personnel for other countries, including EurAsEC member states.

One of the key tasks of the Council on Cooperation in Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy is to ensure effective interaction among EurAsEC member states in the fields of nuclear power engineering and nuclear fuel cycle. That’s why during its second meeting the Council is planning to consider the possibility of joining the May 10 2007 agreement between the governments of Russia and Kazakhstan for the establishment of an international uranium enrichment center.