Expert: Kazakhstan owns required human resource potential and research base for nuclear power development
Director General of the Institute of Nuclear Physics Sayabek Sakhiyev reported at the Government session on the progress of training specialists for the nuclear industry and the development of international cooperation, El.kz cites primeminister.kz.
Kazakhstan has the necessary human resources and research base for the development of nuclear power. There are all opportunities for this, said Sayabek Sakhiyev, Director General of the Institute of Nuclear Physics. The research and production organisation has been working in the country for 67 years and was opened on the initiative of a prominent Kazakh scientist, President of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR Satpayev.
The Institute today is the only scientific organisation that carries out a full cycle of R&D: from fundamental research to production of products.
"Already now Kazakhstan exports radioisotopes to 5 countries: France, Germany, Russia, Turkey and Kyrgyzstan, where, in particular, it supplies radiopharmpreparat for diagnostics of oncological diseases and treatment of cardiovascular system at the expense of IAEA funds.This was made possible through close co-operation with foreign colleagues to exchange experience and knowledge. The work is carried out with more than 30 foreign partners, including such leading international scientific organisations as CERN, Laue-Langevin Institute, major universities of the world, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which is ranked 1st in the rating of universities of the world, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, which is on the 4th place among European universities,"Sayabek Sakhiyev said.
Within the framework of the 67th IAEA General Conference, a Memorandum on personnel training was signed between Kazakhstan and the French consortium I2EN, which trains personnel for nuclear power plants. With the support of IAEA and foreign partners, 3 training centres are functioning, on the basis of which more than 5 thousand specialists for the nuclear industry of Kazakhstan have been trained. At the same time, only 1,400 people are needed for nuclear power plants.
The head of the Institute of Nuclear Physics also dwelled on the safety of nuclear power, recalling that this question was the most frequently asked at public hearings held recently in all regions of the country.
The scientist emphasised that the proposed double-circuit water-water NPPs are the safest. The first such type of NPP was built in 1957, and more than half of the 416 operating NPPs are of this type. All the plants are operating in normal mode, without any significant incidents.
"On the basis of our Institute, a similar research nuclear reactor has been operating for 57 years. Over these years, more than three generations of scientists and engineers have been replaced. And in all this time there has not been a single incident. We confirm that this is the safest type of reactor. Let me give you another example. Near our nuclear research reactor is the Alatau microdistrict. In the early 1980s, over 4,000 people lived there; now the population of the neighbourhood has exceeded 15,000. Two years ago, we distributed personal detectors to 50 volunteers.To date, not a single case of exceeding the background values has been recorded, which once again confirms the radiation and environmental safety of this type of reactors," Sakhiyev said.
According to the expert, the development of nuclear power will not only solve pressing issues of electricity supply in the country, but also give Kazakhstan a historic opportunity to build up a whole layer of highly qualified engineers, scientists and specialists, as well as give a powerful impetus to domestic science.
"The future is for nuclear energy," the scientist summarised.
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