Russia’s National Research Nuclear University (NRNU) MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute) will become the first Russian university to launch a MA programme meeting International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) standards in the area of nuclear management technologies. The first students will enrol in August and join the programme at MEPhI on 1 September.

Russia’s National Research Nuclear University (NRNU) MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute) will become the first Russian university to launch a MA programme meeting International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) standards in the area of nuclear management technologies. The first students will enrol in August and join the programme at MEPhI on 1 September.

Earlier, NRNU MEPhI rector Mikhail Strikhanov and Nikolai Geraskin, head of the Physical Engineering Education Centre, signed an agreement with the IAEA according to which MEPhI will become an official member of IAEA’s International Nuclear Management Academy. IAEA Deputy Director General Mikhail Chudakov, a MEPhI graduate, told RIA Novosti that the academy’s educational framework had been drafted. "IAEA experts visit universities wishing to join the academy," he said. "This is needed to graduate high-class experts boasting a certain range of nuclear technology expertise in line with a standard format."

The UK’s University of Manchester was the first to join this process, and MEPhI is next. Chudakov expects Tokyo University to be the third to offer the programme. Chudakov believes that the nuclear sector’s sustained high level of safety and security depends on skilful decisions and the effective management of INMA-monitored processes.