OREANDA-NEWS. May 23, 2011. Tentative results and perspective plans of implementation of a project to set up a network of regional atomic energy information centers were described to participants of the conference NESTET-2011 being held under the auspices of the European Nuclear Society in Prague.

This topic was elaborated on by Nikolay Doronin, Board Member of ANO Atomic Energy Information Centers and Director General of Atomexpo LLC.

As of date, 11 information centers have been opened in Russia. Over two-odd years they have been visited by about 200,000 people. It is planned that before the end of 2011 the information centers will be opened in three more cities in Russia: Vladimir, Yekaterinburg and Ulyanovsk. The first information center is planned to open abroad, in Hanoi (Vietnam). In 2012 six more information centers are to open in: Saratov, Kursk, Smolensk, Kostroma, Tver and Irkutsk. Therefore, a number of centers in the Russia-based chain will be 20. This will bring up a general number of visitors up to 400,000 persons annually.

In addition, a string of projects is to be actively developed in the centers to aim at enhancement of youth interest in engineering trades, vocational guidance sessions, and better communication with local communities.

It is planned that the project will receive an official support from the European Nuclear Society at the June 2011 meeting of this high-profile international organization.

The NESTET (Nuclear Education and Training) is the conference arranged by the European Nuclear Society (ENS), which gathers together key experts on human resources management, recruiting, advanced training and education of specialists in the nuclear industry. Conference participants include representatives of HR departments of largest companies in the nuclear power market, basic higher education establishments which train nuclear specialists, national nuclear societies and international organizations. The conference is officially supported by the IAEA.