OREANDA-NEWS. October 15, 2010. This information was provided by Head of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency (FMBA) Valentin Uyba on October 6, in the course of the working meeting with Chairman of the RF Government Vladimir Putin. According to the government press service, the meeting was dedicated, in particular, to discussion of the progress of implementation of Dimitrovgrad Nuclear Technology Center project priced at 13.9 bln rubles. V.Uyba reminded that the structure of the new medical establishment provided for a proton therapy center for proton beam therapy. “We’ll have a unique proton therapy center for four proton accelerators. Three — general purpose and one — for eye tumors”, Head of FMBA said.

As explained by V.Uyba, “the most up-to-date and powerful in the world” proton accelerator of Belgian Ion Beam Applications S.A. with a capacity of 250 MeV has been ordered for the center. It will take two years to manufacture the installation. V.Uyba said that it was necessary to create the infrastructure by 2013 to install the proton accelerator and begin patient admittance in 2014. In 2014, the startup year the center will be able to accept about 1.5 — 2 thousand people. Starting with 2015 it’ll reach be up and running at full capacity — 4 thousand people. This year the work at the project which turned out to be “very complicated” because “there had been no similar proton therapy center projects” in the country has been completed. V.Uyba emphasized that the project had been developed by analogy with foreign centers and had already undergone financial and economic expertise.

“The design rules were rather complicated but still the project is at the crucial final stage”, Head of FMBA said and added that starting with January 1 installation and construction work will be commenced. “Our center will be unique because it’ll concentrate most up-to-date technologies. The second distinguishing feature of our center is application of such unique methods as brachytherapy apart from proton therapy”, V.Uyba said. According to his version the country needs three nuclear technology centers. Another two may appear in Obninsk and Tomsk “if such decision is adopted”. “We’d like to have a domestic center there”, V.Uyba emphasized and added than Rosatom participating in medical and technical consultations might be able to “establish its own proton therapy center” after three years.