Elena Magaril: «Nuclear Energy Demonstrates the Highest Safety Standards Nowadays»

12:34, June 3, 2019

GSEM professor took part in the international Russian-Hungarian ecological trip to the Paks Nuclear Power Plant

Sustainable development of nuclear power must meet several social, political, ecological and economic criteria. It is the social aspect of the matter that appears the most controversial today. And informing the population about all the details of this type of energy is of vital importance in addressing this issue, according to Professor, Head of the Academic Department of Environmental Economics, expert of the Rosatom Public Council Elena Magaril. Professor Magaril took part in the first International Russian-Hungarian ecological trip to the Paks Nuclear Power Plant.

“Based on data from different countries, it is safe to assume that public opinion correlates well with the government policy, — explained Prof. Magaril. — For example, in the USA, about 50% of the population are for building new nuclear power plants, while in Germany the same indicator is less than 7%. Public opinion can be a serious obstacle in the way of not only energy, but technological development in general”.

In light of this, providing people with reliable information to create an adequate image of new technologies, their prospects and safety is of the utmost importance. The Rosatom Public Council does this kind of work, and the International Ecological Trip is a shining example of productive interactions in this field.

“Nuclear literacy of the population is vital, it is what’s lacking nowadays, — comments Prof. Magaril. — Therefore it is necessary to provide our graduates with competencies that meet the challenges and requirement of the nuclear industry. It is best realized in practice-oriented education invliving close cooperation with partner companies in this field”.

The REC INZHEC Education and Research Centre of GSEM UrFU has been implementing this kind of education with the support of the inter-regional public ecological organization Greenlife and the Rosatom Public Council. Students and teachers work together to create interdisciplinary projects in various thematic areas.

“People, and in particular young people, should know about the unique opportunities of the nuclear energy and the high safety level of modern power plants today, — says Elena Magaril. — Thanks to this, atomic energy has great potential in terms of fuel and energy crisis resolution in the future”.

During the trip to Hugary, the Russian delegation, in which Prof. Magaril took part, held a series of meetings and briefings with the Russian Ambassador to Hungary Vladimir Sergeev, Vice Speaker of the Hungarian National Assembly Janos Latorcai, Hungarian Minister responsible for engineering, construction and commissioning of two new power units of the Paks Janos Suli, State Secretary Pal Kovacs and top management of MVMGroup and the Paks Nuclear Power Plant.

At the meetings, the participants discussed the safety of Russian-designed power units and cooperation between the Hungarian government and Rosatom corporation regarding the implementation of joint social and cultural projects.

Members of the Federation Council and the State Duma of the Russian Federation, representatives of the Rosatom Public Council, Rosenergoatom, Green Cross and the ecological organization Oka took part in the first International Russian-Hungarian ecological trip to the Paks Nuclear Power Plant.