On June, 3 2013 a three­day conference on nuclear cooperation between the Russian Federation and the USA: “Past achievements and future prospects” began in the MEPhI.

Following the initiative of the leaders of the Russian nuclear centers and their colleagues in the USA, a forum was organized and many of the people who played key roles in achieving the unprecedented success of the Russian­American nuclear cooperation in the last 20 years were present.

Many of the participants said thatsystematizing the experience gained by the partnership between theRussian Federation and the United States would contribute to the development of new areas of joint activities which in turn wouldgive us the ability to respond to new challenges, among them ­ the need to prevent global nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism.

The conference was opened by Dr. Siegfried S.Heсker (Stanford University), former director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the USA, «Today we are going to talk about the past achievements in the field of nuclear cooperation and the prospects of future cooperation. Here gathered an impressive group of experts from two our countries and we are happy that we have been invited to participate in this conference. And, especially, in MEPhI, because the university has for many years been engaged in nuclear research.

The world changed when, in 1988, our leaders decided that we should establish a system of joint inspection of nuclear tests. In August, a team of Russian nuclear specialists came to our testing ground in Nevada, where we tested one of our nuclear devices. A few months later, our specialists visited the test site at Semipalatinsk. Professional relationships that had been formed then, served as a catalyst for the development of our cooperation to combat the threat of the Cold War. As a result of our meetings, we realized how similar we are ­ we have a shared responsibility in this changing world. We understood that these new threats can be overcome only on the basis of cooperation, not through confrontation. We began to work on the question of how to ensure the safety of nuclear technology without nuclear testing. My colleagues were also concerned about how to keep professionals in the Russian nuclear industry so that they could continue to perform their tasks. These are issues that I have personally been working on for the last 25 years. I have been in Russia 46 times and our colleagues from Russia have visited us too. Hundreds of experts from both countries have worked together and many of them are present here today. These were difficult times, but all in all we were successful. Ilkaev and Avrorin were on the frontlines of the work, together we wrote a book. In it, we tried to tell the whole story about how important this cooperation was. And for this, we have organized this conference to discuss the past for the future. By combining our efforts, we will be able to receive a new impetus and solve all the problems that we face. The opportunity is real, but this possibility should be used on the basis of cooperation. If we can demonstrate how we have been able to successfully work together in the 90s, then we can find common ground for cooperation in the future. And I am sure this conference will be an important step in that direction. «

M.N.Strikhanov the rector of MEPhI welcomed the participants of the conference: «Dear Colleagues, we are honored to host this conference and pleased that we are visited by such outstanding scientists from the United States and the Russian Federation. Last year we celebrated the anniversary of our university, and I see this conference as a gift for our anniversary. I wish all the participants of the conference successful work. I also want to say that the Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation D.V.Livanov sent a congratulatory letter to the participants of the conference in which he expressed confidence that the conference, which brought together prominent scientists, politicians and public figures of Russia and the United States will become a major event in Russian­American cooperation in the field of high­tech. «

The rector of MEPhI also made a presentation about the university, with an emphasis on its cooperation with international organizations: the IAEA, CERN, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and etc. «The task of MEPhI ­ said M.N.Strikhanov ­ is the integration of science, education and innovation The University is actively involved in the competition announced by the Ministry of Education and Science to enhance international cooperation. MEPhI is facing not a simple task of increasing the number of foreign students and visiting scientists to help the international cooperation develop as in normal universities of the world. We are open to cooperation».

I.M.Kamenskih, the first deputy general director of the State Corporation «Rosatom» ­ Director of the Directorate for Nuclear Weapons Complex: «Over the past several years of close cooperation between Russia and the U.S., we solved many problems: we have solved the problem of handling nuclear weapons, we have done everything to establish an understanding between the two countries, and most importantly, we have developed mechanisms and approaches for the proper and safe ways of how to manage nuclear supplies, store radioactive materials. But the work is not completed, there are new challenges. Today we are discussing the objectives of the global nuclear non­proliferation. Keeping in mind September, 11, we understand perfectly well that terrorism knows no borders, so a lot of work can be carried out along the line of nuclear energy and non­proliferation of nuclear technology. «

R.I.Ilkaev, the scientific supervisor of the Russian federal nuclear center VNIIEF: «It’s very nice, my dear colleagues, to see you all here today, within the walls of our wonderful university MEPhI. We are also very pleased to be here, as many of the graduates of our nuclear university are very successfully working now in our institute. Keeping in mind the story, which we are discussing today, I would like to note the absolutely unprecedented nature of what has happened. Imagine, during so long there was competition, rivalry, and in fact a high level of hostility between our societies and countries. At first it seemedabsolutely impossible to overcome this. But when the leaders of our countries and all the other politicians have a common point of view, any work can be done. And, of course, the exchange of visits of the directors of nuclear centers had great importance for us too. Two questions were in the center of attention then­ safety and nuclear research. Together with American experts, we found a lot of areas where we could fruitfully cooperate. First of all, these were questions of registration and control, missile defense issues on which the presidents of Russia and the U.S. signed an agreement giving the countries a very powerful incentive.

Of course in our country, thanks to good discipline, many safety and security issues were addressed on the organizational level. And they were addressed very well. But in new Russia not only the human factor should have been used, which, unfortunately, became imperfect, but the political methods as well. And this is where the cooperation between our countries became very useful.

In the field of science at the American scientists have many outstanding achievements, a fine base. We have more achievements associated with explosive techniques, our American colleagues –with the development of stationary installations. And in these areas too, we were able to find a lot of intersections. We have obtained a lot of useful and fruitful results, looking ahead, I will say that there are also very interesting objectives too, I hope that after signing the agreement between Rosatom and the Department of Energy the cooperation that began to slow down would gather pace again. I am pleased that all of us are here together and we are going to listen to each other with pleasure. «

G.N.Rykovanov, the scientific supervisor of the Russian federal nuclear center VNIITF: «Turning to the 20­year history of our cooperation, I should firstly note the openness of our institutions for external interactions, and secondly the cooperation of our nuclear centers with the nuclear centers in Europe, the U.S., Japan and China. The interaction began with the visit of Mr. Baker to the Urals (signing of the agreement on joint experiments) after that our relations only became better.

I want to comment on the scientific maintenance of the nuclear weapons arsenal of weapons, a joint initiative of the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Atomic Energy. For us it is very important that there is openness in international relations and cooperation with the leading research centers of the world. These were the years of very interesting collaboration andcooperation, and I hope that we will continue it in the near future. «

William Perry (Stanford University, Center for International Security and Cooperation), the 19th U.S. Secretary of Defense, presented a report «Reducing the risks associated with the nuclear arsenals left after the Cold War in the 1990s», where, he noted: “After the end of the Cold War, the danger that we associate with a nuclear holocaust decreased as well. However, after the collapse of the USSR nuclear stockpiles remained in the hands of the new states such as Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Belarus, and the question of how to exercise control over uncontrolled nuclear ammunition became crucial. In 1991 I traveled to Moscow and Kiev to make an assessment of the risks that this problem posed. We have developed some of the activities which then formed the basis of the Nunn­Lugar program ­ a program to jointly reduce the threat of destroying nuclear, chemical and other weapons of mass destruction.

We have reached a good level of technical and diplomatic cooperation with Russia. We dealt with this problem, due to the fact that the Russian military andthe nuclear physicists took an active part in this program. And as a result we all feel safe. «

After that, William Perry showed the stages of realizing the program in his presentation and made a conclusion: «I hope that this conference will become the beginning of fruitful cooperation for our safe future.»

V.Z.Dvorkin, major general, chief researcher at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS): «I agree with Mr. Perry that on the second level mutual understanding is reached easier. Speaking about the atmosphere of the 90s, it can be noted that reducing nuclear weapons was necessary under the terms of the agreement, and it was difficult to introduce new ones because of the unstable economy. But still I have to say that the nuclear program in the Soviet Union and Russia were mostly a reaction to the programsof the U.S. in this area. During the Cold War, we were always catching up with the U.S. in the number of nuclear weapons. The balance was: the United States ­ 12 thousand units of nuclear weapons, we had ­ 10.5.

The beginning of the 90s was marked by a number of presidential initiatives between the two countries on the quantitative reduction of the nuclear arsenal. Russia has repeatedly said that 1.5 thousands units of strategic nuclear weapons would be enough to maintain its defense. The need for nuclear deterrence will remain in the world as long as nuclear weapons exist. In global politics, the relations between our two countries are similar to tides, theyfollow a sinusoid. Our task, as experts and scientists, is to try and level this sinusoid so that there would be no dramatic falls and the relations and cooperation would steadily become better, and most importantly, the level of trust would increase. «

The academic of the RAS B.F.Myasoedov, deputy academic­secretary of the department of chemistry and materials sciences of the RAS, Head of the Section of Chemical Sciences of the RAS: «Science has no borders. We need to cooperate with the U.S. universities and academies. Cooperation between Russia and the United States follows two main lines: the cooperation between the Ministry of Energy and Rosatom and cooperation between the Russian Academy of Sciences and the scientific academies of the United States and also the Department of Energy. RAS scientists always, even in the years of the «cold war» had very good relationswith their American colleagues. «After this B.F.Myasoedov gave a presentation and spoke on some of the historical facts, that could serve as examples of how the use of shared knowledge, that both countries have in their scientific arsenal, can contribute to the solution of very large and important public and scientific challenges in the field of chemistry and physics.

On the same day, themeetings of the II and III part of the conference took place.