Development of a joint US-RF educational program in advanced energy technologies

A consortium of Universities and National Laboratories has been formed in the US to develop curricula in advanced energy technologies with emphasis on nuclear engineering and nuclear physics. In response to increasing demands for electricity production and concerns about global warming, new national initiatives in industrialized countries call for increases in the pace of developments of nuclear technology and for construction of new nuclear power plants. Such developments can only become a reality if educational institutions are able to train sufficient numbers of highly qualified nuclear engineers and physicists to support the initiatives. The training of technical personnel in energy technologies is an urgent task that calls for collaborative efforts between educational institutions not only within national boundaries, but between industrialized countries as well. The University of Maryland Consortium is collaborating with the Russian Federal Nuclear University (FNU) (formerly Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, MEPhI) to develop curricula in nuclear engineering and advanced energy technologies. The effort is supported by the US Department of Education on the US side and the Russian Ministry of Education on the RF side.