On March, 21 the final of the contest of student scientific works AtomBase-2017 has taken place in the Moscow International Trade Center. The contest was held by the state atomic energy corporation “Rosatom” and is aimed at young people’s self-actualization through scientific and innovative activity. The final stage of the contest was held as a part of the IV international forum-exhibition “NDexpo-2017” – “High technologies for stable development”.

The Chief of education division of the Personnel Management at “Rosatom”, one of the jury members P.V.Sushkov opened the event with the welcoming speech, addressing the guests, outlining the main purpose – youth attraction to the industrial works: “People is the key factor of the stable development.”

Graduates of 2017 and senior year students of INPhE MEPhI took part in the contest; 10 of them were selected for the final. Scientific works were chosen by several criteria: industrial topic, scientific relevance, importance of the result, quality of representation and professional level of the application, prospect of the result commercialization.

The finalists were fighting for the main prize, which remained unknown until the awarding: it was a unicycle. All the represented projects were acute and well-prepared. It was not easy for the jury to determine the winner, but finally Mikhail Kasatov was chosen (MEPhI, Thermal physics department). The topic of his work is “The analysis of uncertainties in relation to the accidents with the leak of the primary coolant circuit of the reactor facility WWER-2000”. This project, which is at the initial stage of realization now, is connected with incorporation of new methods in justification of nuclear stations’ safety. According to him, they are being developed as addition to the old, conservative one.

The participants have shared their impressions about the contest and forum in general.

Denis Safonov, MEPhI, Kurchatov Institute employee:

- My project is dedicated to the research of vessel of reactors WWER-440. At the moment there are discussions about prolonging reactors’ life cycle up to 60 years, giving them “third life”. It’s the first time I participate in the contest and at the exhibition. We got to know represented companies, compared with previous similar events, which we had a chance to visit.

Ekaterina Bogdanova, MEPhI, Department of Theoretical and experimental physics of nuclear reactors:

- We are modelling nuclear reactors, study problems, which can occur. This is my first experience of participation in the contest, although I participated in likely ones. I liked the exhibition, learnt a lot of new things.