OREANDA-NEWS. February 3, 2009. Representatives of Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation and IAEA/INPRO Secretariat met at Rosatom on Jan 29 2009.

Representatives of Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation and the Secretariat of the IAEA/INPRO (the International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles) met at Rosatom on Jan 29 2009.

The IAEA delegation was led by Deputy Director General-Head of the Department of Nuclear Energy of the Agency, INPRO manager Y.Sokolov. The delegation of Rosatom was led by Deputy Director General of Rosatom N.Spasskiy and comprised representatives of the Russian nuclear organizations participating in the INPRO project.

The visit to Russia was the first of the series of visits the IAEA/INPRO Secretariat is planning to pay to INPRO-participant states. Russia is the leader of INPRO. The Government of Russia has decided to provide this project with 23mln RUR a year in 2008–2012. Such long-term financing allows the parties to effectively plan their work and to set specific tasks for the future.

During the meeting the parties have confirmed that the mission and the strategic goals of INPRO had not been changed.

The Russian team formulated the national priorities for the second stage of the project and stressed the necessity of completing joint research projects by 2011. They said that the INPRO Methodology was an intellectual internationally acknowledged product, which could be used by IAEA member-states in assessing safety and stability in terms of nonproliferation, ecological compatibility, infrastructure and economic efficiency of innovative reactors and their fuel cycles. This project is supposed to help IAEA member-states to achieve their national goals and to effectively plan the development of their nuclear energy systems. The Russian team suggested using the INPRO Methodology on a regular basis for assisting concerned IAEA members.