Alexey Likhachev at the Znanie.Pervye Marathon: “Russia Is One of the Main Moderators of Nuclear Energy on the Planet”

Director General of the Rosatom state corporation Alexey Likhachev spoke to the participants of the federal educational Znanie.Pervye marathon.First, which takes place from March 2 to 6 during the World Youth Festival (WYF) in Sirius. The speech by the head of the state corporation took place on the first day of the marathon in the World Youth City as part of the track “Responsibility for the fate of the world” and was dedicated to Russia’s role in the development of nuclear technologies for sustainable development. Not only the participants of the WYF, but also everyone could listen to the lecture live on the 24-hour channel Znanie.TV.

Alexey Likhachev told the youth about how modern nuclear technologies determine the dynamic development of the Russian economy, energy, transport, influence the environment and lay the foundation for an optimistic look into the future, when humanity will make the long-awaited transition to green energy and will be able to make an equivalent exchange with nature, compensating and renewing its resources.

At the beginning of the speech, the Director General of Rosatom conducted a short monitoring of the audience, asking delegates from those countries that already have nuclear energy to raise their hands. He recalled that Russia, and earlier the USSR, have always held primacy on the planet in the field of peaceful use of nuclear technology - since the early 50s.

“Continuing to maintain leadership in the field of nuclear energy, we do not boast, but we are proud of it. And we have always generously shared our competencies with our neighbors: today there are 25 export projects of new nuclear power plants in the world, and 22 of them are ours. We help create nuclear infrastructure and train specialists from other countries. Nuclear power plants under our leadership are being built in Turkey, Bangladesh, Egypt, India, and China. Russia is one of the main moderators of nuclear energy on the planet!” —the head of Rosatom emphasized.

Addressing young people, Alexey Likhachev mentioned the time frame for creating large nuclear projects - on average it is 10 years, which means that today’s participants in the marathon of the Russian Znanie Society will be able to get involved in their implementation. At the same time, the life of the station itself, according to the lecturer, should be at least 100 years. There are other goals that Russian nuclear scientists are striving for - and these goals have been set by the country's top leadership.

“Today, nuclear energy in Russia accounts for 20% of the total energy generated, and the President sets the task of bringing this figure up to 25%. This is not an easy task: we must build about 42 power units, go deep into the country: to Siberia, to the Far East. But we are ready for this challenge. In the near future, at least 7 regions of Russia will become happy owners of nuclear energy,” said Alexey Likhachev.

During his speech, the lecturer asked delegates from different cities whether they knew about the implementation of Rosatom’s environmental initiatives in the regions where the corporation operates. The forum participants confirmed that these initiatives are known both in the Leningrad region and in Chelyabinsk.

“One of our main tasks is to create a fourth-generation nuclear landscape in the energy sector, the essence of which is to achieve a natural level of safety, when in the event of a reactor destruction the reaction will not accelerate, but will decay. And the second condition is a closed fuel cycle to reduce nuclear fuel waste to zero. We are building large complex technological processes where spent fuel becomes raw material. This approach is based on a fundamentally different attitude towards resources. Already, the mined uranium will last us for 2 thousand years! We want to make an equivalent exchange with nature. This year we are launching the first module of a new station with two-component energy in the city of Seversk, Tomsk Region - it will be designed for 300 megawatts. Only in Russia is this technology implemented on the ground,” the lecturer emphasized.

In the final part of the lecture, the head of the state corporation paid attention to non-infrastructural projects of Rosatom - the development of the Northern Sea Route with nuclear icebreakers, the development of nuclear medicine. So, next year a plant for the production of radiopharmaceuticals will begin operating in Obninsk, and this enterprise will completely cover Russia’s needs for such drugs.

“When we develop and apply every technology, we always think about how it will make people's lives better. All technologies must be tested for their usefulness to people. That is, it is important to put people at the center of any project. Rosatom adheres to the same principle in relation to employees. Every person is talented, you just need to find your talent and help it develop,” —summed up Alexey Likhachev.

He concluded his speech by saying that the main task of all researchers is to test technologies for the benefit of people, to put people at the center of everything. These words were actively supported by the audience.

Also on March 2, on the first day of the federal educational marathon Znanie.Pervye among the lecturers of the thematic track “Responsibility for the fate of the world” are the Minister of Health of Russia Mikhail Murashko, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Irina Yarovaya, Governor of the Khabarovsk Territory, member of the State Council of the Russian Federation Mikhail Degtyarev, Chairman of the State Duma Committee of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on youth policy, head of the DOBRO.RF platform Artyom Metelev, Chairman of the People's Council of the Donetsk People's Republic Artem Zhoga, artistic director of the Moscow State Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Igor Butman, People's Artist of Russia Igor Butman, designer Denis Simachev, stand-up comedian Stanislav Starovoitov and many others.

The Russian Znanie Society is the general partner of the educational program of the World Youth Festival, organized by decree of President Vladimir Putin. Part of the educational program was the flagship project of the Russian Znanie Society - the federal educational marathon Znanie.Pervye. A large-scale educational event takes place in Sirius from March 2 to 6 and covers six sites of the World Youth City: WYF International Airport, Yamal, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Belgorod, and Moscow pavilions. The tracks of the educational event are consonant with the meanings of the Festival: “Responsibility for the fate of the world”, “Multinational unity”, “A world of opportunity for everyone”, “Saving the family for future generations” and “We stand together with Russia”. The most striking presentations of lecturers are broadcast on the 24-hour media channel https://russia.znanierussia.ru/tv/Znanie.TV.

In addition to the marathon, the Russian Znanie Society organized for the participants of the World Youth Festival an intellectual tournament Znanie.Game with the participation of scholars from different countries and film lectures Znanie.Kino, where viewers can watch legendary Russian and foreign films, discuss them in the company of famous actors and directors. For the Festival guests a multimedia exhibition of the National Photo Contest Znanie.Russia will work, where they will be able to see the main achievements of Russia in the XXI century and immerse themselves in their atmosphere with the help of augmented reality technology.

The World Youth Festival shall become a platform for open dialog between young people from Russia and other countries. After the completion of the events on the Sirius Federal Territory, Russian Znanie Society will continue the educational line of the World Youth Festival from March 9 to 17 within the framework of the regional program WYF, which will cover all federal districts of our country.

***

For reference:

The World Youth Festival is held in accordance with the http://publication.pravo.gov.ru/Document/View/0001202304050024Decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin to develop international youth cooperation. At the first meeting of the Organizing Committee chaired by Sergey Kiriyenko, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration, it was decided to hold the Festival in the Sirius Federal Territory.

20,000 young leaders in education, science, international cooperation, culture, volunteering, charity, sports, business, media, etc., including 10,000 foreign participants, will take part in the WYF 2024. For the first time in the history of the festival movement, teenagers from 14 to 17 years old had the opportunity to join the event, including 500 from Russia and 500 from abroad. 5,000 volunteers from all regions of Russia, including 228 residents of the LPR, DPR, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Regions be involved in the organization and delivery of the Festival. The organizer of the World Youth Festival is the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh), the operator of the WYF-2024 is the Directorate of the World Youth Festival.

The first education marathon was held in May 2021 and became a symbol of the reboot of the Russian Znanie Society. More than 850 lecturers shared their experience during the marathon. The sixth educational marathon Znane.Pervye took place from November 4 to 6, 2023. It started at the same time as the opening of the Russia International Exhibition and Forum and was conceptually integrated into its theme.

The Russian Znanie Society traces its history back to the Soviet public organization founded in 1947 on the initiative of representatives of the Soviet intelligentsia as the All-Union Society for the Dissemination of Political and Scientific Knowledge (since 1963 —All-Union Znanie Society, since 1991— Znanie of Russia Society). Members of the Society were engaged in popularizing science and lecturing on the achievements of the Soviet economy and industry. In 2016, Znanie of Russia was transformed into the Russian Znanie Society. On April 21, 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the need to restart the Russian Znanie Society on a modern digital platform in his address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.