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Radar: Atomic energy expert says Serbia not ready for nuclear power plant Radar 4–5 minutes _____ Jasmina Vujic, a world expert in atomic energy and a professor at the University of Berkeley, said in her feature piece for the Radar weekly that no attention should be paid to what the politicians are saying because Serbia is not ready for a nuclear power plant. Vujic said that Serbia fell out of step with many technological fields ages ago, especially with modern nuclear technology. Following the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster, fueled by citizens’ fear and without significant scientific discussion, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia adopted in 1989 a moratorium on the construction of nuclear power plants. Serbia extended this “moratorium” in 2005. Education of new personnel in nuclear technologies and nuclear energy was neglected, explained Vujic. As a result of the “moratorium,” the University of Belgrade basically dropped all courses related to nuclear technologies, and funding for programs in this area was discontinued in institutes and research centers. The Department of Technical Physics with focus on nuclear engineering, which I completed, was shut down at the Belgrade Faculty of Electrical Engineering around the same time, she said. The Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences, where I worked from 1977 to 1985, also underwent catastrophic changes, including attempts to transform “nuclear” Vinca into “green” Vinca, to shut down two experimental nuclear reactors, remove highly enriched uranium fuel under mysterious conditions (this fuel is invaluable, as Serbia will never again have access to such fuel), forcibly split the Institute and set up an unnecessary public enterprise “Nuclear Facilities of Serbia.” In consequence, many nuclear experts and researchers left the country – never to return – which created a huge “gap” of several decades in the education of a new generation of experts, said Vujic. She explained that, even if Serbia were to (miraculously) decide to build a nuclear power plant, it would have to start from scratch: there are no appropriate laws or necessary regulations, there is no educated workforce, not only in the field of nuclear engineering but also in related fields necessary for the construction and management of nuclear power plants (from mechanical engineers, civil engineers, chemists, and biologists to specialized welders). It is unclear who is responsible for protection against ionizing radiation, independent regulatory agencies are being shut down, and new regulatory bodies led by amateurs and political appointees are being set up. Public enterprizes are established to manage nuclear facilities that no longer exist in Serbia, and the energy development strategy is largely based on the use of uneven quality lignite and construction of (expensive) renewable sources, Vujic said. Considering the current situation in Serbia in terms of public sentiment, political situation, and the lack of skilled personnel, legal regulations, and general infrastructure, the shortest timeframe to fulfill most of the required steps is at least 20 to 30 years, and that is before the start of the actual construction of a nuclear power plant. Therefore, I argue that the chances of Serbia building either a “large” or “small” nuclear power plant in the foreseeable future are equal to zero, said Vujic. -- http:www.antic.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "SERBIAN NEWS NETWORK" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/senet/08f101da9188%2467341fe0%24359c5fa0%24%40gmail.com.
