Russia’s Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) became the first Russian university to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission. The parties plan to cooperate in the field of nuclear education and the development of the Nigerian nuclear industry.
The agreement was signed on September 27 within the framework of the 67th session of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference in Vienna, the press service of the university told Sputnik.
On behalf of TPU, the memorandum was signed by Vera Verkhoturova, Advisor to the Rector for External Relations, and Abdullahi A. Mati, Director of the Department of Nuclear Power Plants from the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission. The event was attended by Marina Belyaeva, Deputy Director of the International Activities Unit – Director of the Department for Cooperation with International Organizations of Rosatom State Corporation, Professor Yusuf Amin Ahmedu, Chairman of the commission, its representatives and the Nigerian Nuclear Technology Centre.
TPU and the commission plan to create joint educational programs, including dual degree programs with Nigerian universities, academic exchange of students, distance learning, seminars, training courses, research in the field of nuclear physics and technology.
TPU has been training in-demand personnel for the nuclear industry for more than 70 years, and its graduates are heads of ministries and departments, heads of companies, engineering and management corps of leading nuclear industry enterprises, Acting Rector of TPU Leonid Sukhoy said.
“Thanks to close cooperation with Rosatom State Corporation, whose main university is the TPU, we are developing international nuclear programs. The university has already become a reference platform for the development of human resource capacity in the field of nuclear technologies in Indonesia, Bolivia, Egypt, and a number of other Rosatom partner countries. And today, Nigeria has officially joined the list of our partner countries. TPU will become a reference platform in Russia for training personnel in nuclear and related specialties in the interests of Nigeria. We are grateful for the trust, I am sure that fruitful and mutually beneficial cooperation awaits us ahead,” he stressed.
Stand of the state corporation Rosatom at the exhibition of the Eurasian Economic Forum in the Park of Science and Art Sirius. – Sputnik Africa, 1920, 28.07.2023
The head of the university noted that among the graduates of the TPU international educational nuclear programs there are already employees of the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission, who are now successfully applying the acquired knowledge and competencies for the development of nuclear technologies in the country.
“I believe that this is just the beginning of a long-term cooperation. At the moment, about 40 students from Nigeria are already studying for master’s and postgraduate programs in the field of nuclear energy. And we hope that this number will grow,” Yusuf Aminu Ahmed noted.
Earlier, representatives of the Nigerian Nuclear Technology Center paid a working visit to the university. They learnt about international educational programs, visited the university’s research laboratories, and also met with TPU students from Nigeria.
Today, the nuclear industry in Nigeria is developing rapidly. There are agreements between Russia and the West African state on the development of nuclear projects in the field of peaceful use of nuclear technologies, as well as on the construction and operation of a nuclear power plant and a center with a multipurpose research reactor on the Nigerian territory. In order to solve the large-scale tasks of the nuclear energy program, the Nigerian side needs to strengthen the sector’s personnel potential.SPUTNIK AFRICA
