On 15-17 January 2014 in Vienna (Austria), the IAEA secretariat held a consultative meeting on the establishment of the network of nuclear education among the CIS member states (EurAsEC) under the aegis of the IAEA.

The meeting was attended by representatives of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. On the Russian side the event was attended by representatives of MEPhI (Rector of the University Strikhanov M.N. and the director of the Training Center for Engineering and Physical Education Geraskin N.I.) and Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University named after Alekseev R.E. (Rector of the University Dmitriev S.M.).

The aims of the event were the following: discussion of the possible goals and objectives for the network of nuclear education among the CIS member states; discussion of the promising cooperation mechanisms; consideration of possible participants in this educational network; planning for further activities, etc. The participation of Russian representatives in this event was a part of the practical arrangements for cooperation between the IAEA and MEPhI in nuclear knowledge management and nuclear education signed in September 2012.

Establishment of the CIS network (EurAsEC) of nuclear education will consolidate Russian leading position in the sphere of nuclear education on the post-Soviet area and will strengthen bilateral and multilateral relations between universities and educational networks in other regions in Europe (ENEN), Asia, Latin America and Africa. Moreover it will ensure Russian presence and participation in projects for the preparation of human resources, as well as it will help to implement Russian projects on nuclear technology especially in the field of nuclear energy.

It is planned to sign the constituent documents in Vienna in mid-May 2014. At the initial stage the members of this network will be the leading universities in Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine which conduct training of specialists in the sphere of nuclear education.