President Vladimir Putin met with young employees of Russia’s nuclear industry enterprises on Aug. 22, to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the founding of nuclear energy work in the country—a sector which now employs 420,000 people, and, through Rosatom, “is a global leader in the construction of new power units.” Putin used the occasion to deliver a message to not only Russian youth but also to the world on the next scientific frontiers for all Mankind. As reported on the Russian President’s website, Putin stated during his visit to the Russian Federal Nuclear Center—National Research Institute of Experimental Physics:
“This forward trajectory is absolutely precise and correct. We must set ambitious goals and strive to take a qualitative leap in developing Russia’s economy and indeed, civilization as a whole. First and foremost, this includes work in controlled thermonuclear fusion, initiated in part by the great Yevgeny Velikhov. Thanks to existing groundwork, developments in this field are already being applied to create a spectrum of practical solutions, with Russia positioned at the cutting edge of expertise and technology. These undoubtedly unique advantages must be enhanced through close cooperation with Russia’s leading scientific centers.”
Putin continued: “Equally fruitful collaboration is needed for another large-scale project: the creation of a space system with a special power plant and a so-called space tug based on a nuclear power unit. Such solutions open fundamentally new prospects for deep space exploration.” He explained that these programs are “colossal in scale, [and] they are designed to strengthen the country’s defense capabilities and sovereignty while crucially expanding opportunities for creativity and self-realization among talented young people, as well as school and university students who aspire to work in the nuclear industry. I am utterly convinced that young people and all generations of Rosatom specialists—like your great predecessors—are capable of achieving the most complex objectives, whether civilian or defense-related, where Russia’s nuclear industry is engaged.”
