Nuclear industry forum Atomexpo opens in Moscow

The 9th international nuclear industry forum Atomexpo 2017 has kicked off in Moscow, BelTA has learned.

A Belarusian delegation will take part in the forum that will run through 21 June. The opening ceremony will take place at the Gostiny Dvor Business and Exhibition Center on 19 June. It will be attended by Belarusian Energy Minister Vladimir Potupchik, Deputy Energy Minister Mikhail Mikhadyuk, and Director General of the state enterprise Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant Mikhail Filimonov, among others. Members of the Belarusian delegation will meet with Rosatom Director General Aleksei Likhachev and other representatives of the company’s management, and with foreign partners.

This year, the main topic of the forum is “Nuclear technologies – safety, ecology, sustainability”. The plenary session “Atom as a basis for zero carbon energy future” will be the main event of the business program. Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko will attend the session. The list of participants also includes First Deputy Chief of the Presidential Executive Office, Chairman of Rosatom Supervisory Board Sergei Kiriyenko, Rosatom Director General Aleksei Likhachev, Director General of the Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) William Magwood, Director General of the World Nuclear Association Agneta Rising, and others. The plenary session will discuss contemporary challenges in the global power market, and the role of nuclear power as a reliable, economically predictable and environmentally friendly energy source. 

The program of the forum for 19 and 20 June includes the roundtables “Innovative technological solutions in the nuclear energy life cycle as a condition of sustainable development”; “Future investments: choosing the best” (features two sections – “NPP construction projects” and “Wind power”); “3D printing, an innovative instrument for nuclear energy development”; “Creating human capital for the sustainable development of nuclear industry”; “Nuclear industry environmental safety: strategy, regulation, technology”; “Clean water as one of the key factors for environmental sustainability: desalination, water preparation, water treatment”; “Humanitarian assistance of the economic integration in the context of an NPP construction project: cost efficiency, public acceptance”, and others. Partaking in the roundtables will be specialists of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. 

A separate track of the business program is dedicated to the digital future. Experts will discuss the role of digital technologies in ensuring the competitiveness of nuclear energy, evaluate IT platforms, and talk about the best practices in the implementation of digital technologies.

The third day of the forum, 21 June, will be the Youth Day with special events for school and university students. The main event will be the final of the seventh tournament of young professionals TeMP-2017, one of the largest events to attract talented young people into the nuclear industry.

Apart from the business program, Atomexpo 2017 will feature an expo of hi-tech solutions and products of more than 90 leading international companies of the global nuclear power industry and related branches. The state enterprise Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant will traditionally take part in the expo. The Belarusian stand will feature videos, photographs, and printed materials about the status of the project to build the Belarusian nuclear power plant, the activities of the information center, and the development of the town of energy workers.

The Russian nuclear industry will be presented by over 40 Rosatom companies, including Rosenergoatom Concern, TVEL Fuel Company of Rosatom, Atomenergomash group, JSC Atomstroyexport, Rusatom Automated Control Systems (RASU), ARMZ Uranium Holding, Mayak Production Association, Mining and Chemical Plant, TENEX, Rusatom Overseas Inc., and Rusatom Healthcare. The world’s leading companies, the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, Rolls-Royce (Great Britain), China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC, China), National Atomic Company Kazatomprom (Kazakhstan), AREVA NP and Schneider Electric (France), L-3 MAPPS (Canada), TAIM WESER (Spain), Fortum (Finland), as well as companies from South Korea, Turkey, Slovakia, Italy and other countries will also be among the exhibitors. 

The international forum Atomexpo is organized by Rosatom on an annual basis. It was founded in 2009, and the Atomexpo company is the event operator. Over the years, the forum has become the largest international business and exhibition venue for discussing the current situation in the nuclear industry and shaping its further development. In 2016, more than 5,000 people from 55 countries attended the events of the forum, which was a record high number. Representatives of 650 companies and organizations participated in the business events. The economic potential of the agreements and memorandums signed on the sidelines of Atomexpo 2016 is estimated at $10 billion.