On June 15-17, at the invitation of  Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation Director General Mr. Sergey Kirienko, Mr. John Carlson, Director of the Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office, and Mr. Alexei Lebedev, Chairman of the International Uranium Enrichment Center Board of Directors, made a fact-finding visit to the Angarsk Electrolysis Chemical Integrated Plant (a 100% Atomenegoprom-owned subsidiary).

The visit itinerary included AECC presentation, a meeting with the facility Director, and a visit to the production site. Alexander Belousov, Director of JSC AECC, pointed out during the discussion that the enterprise puts priority on environmental safety issues. He also stressed that the integrated plant regularly reports to relevant regulatory authorities and allocates considerable funds to improve the technology and mitigate undesirable effects on the environment. He wound up by stating that JSC AECC is open for communication and is geared to cooperation in various areas. Mr. John Carlson, who is familiar with other countries’ gas centrifuge technologies, highly appreciated the Russian uranium enrichment technology and spotlighted its exceptional safety level.

“It is essential that nuclear industry professionals”, Mr. Carlson emphasized, “should be able to translate the essence of nuclear technology into layman’s terms for the public, since most people do not trust the things they cannot understand”. An open dialogue with the community based on trust is a prerequisite for the nuclear power industry development, the Australian guest believes.