Turkish students to be chosen for nuclear training in Moscow

Three hundred Turkish students will be chosen to receive nuclear engineering education scholarships in Russia with the goal of employing them at the planned nuclear power plant in Akkuyu, Mersin, when it begins operation.

The students will take courses at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, known as MEPhI, Anatolia news agency has learned.

The scholarships were arranged by Akkuyu NGS Elektrik Üretim, the company that was established as part of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant project. This September, 50 students will attend MEPhI, while the rest will be trained later. Students that receive the scholarships must serve at least 13 years at the Akkuyu plant.

Turkish citizens that currently attend, or have graduated from, university departments that have physics and mathematics lessons in their curriculum will be eligible to apply for the scholarship. The relevant form has been placed online at www.rusyadaokumak.com. The form must be completed by June 23, Anatolia news agency reported.

The students will receive a year of Russian language courses, plus 66 months of scientific courses. The scholarship includes an allowance of $500 a month, one round-trip ticket between Moscow and Turkey, tuition fees, study materials and dormitory boarding.

The MEPhI graduates will receive salaries not less than those of Russian engineers who will work at the Akkuyu plant.

Speaking on the scholarship, Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said his government was working “to create a Turkey that has moved up the ladder in industrialization.”

“It is of utmost importance for Turkish students to receive nuclear engineering education in Russia, in order to establish nuclear culture,” Yıldız said. “Rumors that [only] Russians will work at the Akkuyu nuclear plant have thus been proven untrue. We will learn to do this.”

Regarding Turkey’s planned second nuclear plant in the Black Sea province of Sinop, the minister said there’s “no signal from the Japanese” yet.

“But we will start the talks,” Yıldız said. “We have to have a road map.”


/Hurriyet Daily News/