On October 28, the Russian Center for Science and Culture in Cairo (the Arab Republic of Egypt) hosted the lecture on Russian nuclear technologies and the possibilities of receiving education in Russia with a degree in Nuclear Physics. The attendees were students from leading Egyptian universities: Ain Shams University, Egyptian-Russian and Cairo universities, as well as students from educational schools in the Dokki region, Cairo.
The lecture was delivered by Dmitry Ermakov, Chief Engineer, ASE Egyptian Branch. As part of his presentation, the lecturer told about the history of the development of the nuclear industry and Rosatom Engineering Division, in particular, he gave the key facts about the company, and told about the main foreign NPP projects, including the El Dabaa NPP project, in the portfolio of the Engineering Division. The speaker informed the audience in detail about the main features of the VVER-1200, which is the basis of the nuclear power plant to be built in Egypt, he also told about active and passive safety systems and other design features, which make the reactor technology one of the most advanced and innovative in the world.
D. Ermakov pointed out that this year the Russian nuclear industry celebrates its 75th anniversary. During this period, Rosatom has already built more than 70 VVERs, while 60 of them are still in operation. At the same time, the VVER-1200 represents the latest evolution in the range of VVER power units. The safety concept of modern nuclear power plants with the VVER-1200 is based on a revolutionary development of time-tested approaches. At present, Russia has four Gen III + power units in operation at the Novovoronezh NPP-2 and Leningrad NPP-2. Besides the Russian sites, NPP projects with VVER-1200 are passing through various stages of implementation in various countries around the world, including Egypt, Hungary, Belarus, Finland, Bangladesh, etc. In particular, the physical startup program is under way at unit 1 of the Belarusian NPP: the first fuel assembly was loaded into the reactor on August 7, 2020, while on October 11 the reactor has been brought to minimum control power (considering as the final stage of the physical start-up procedure).
A special part of the event was devoted to the possibilities of receiving nuclear education in Russia. After the lectures, the attendees had an opportunity to ask questions.
Alexey Tevanyan, Head of Rossotrudnichestvo Representative Office in the Arab Republic of Egypt and Director of the Russian Center for Science and Culture in Cairo said: “In addition to safety, reliability and environmental friendliness of the technologies, the advantages of Rosatom's projects include a sensitive approach to planning and developing human resources for partner countries, as well as the creation of a training system for future personnel of the nuclear power plant. In keeping with this approach, Rossotrudnichestvo Representative Office in Egypt will continue to closely cooperate with Rosatom".