"Downsizing of Nuclear Facilities and Guarantee of Sustainable Employment - British Experience "
- Impressions of the Study Tour (doc, 85 Kb).
A Study Tour to Great Britain was organized for leaders of closed nuclear cities from 15 to 22
October 2006. Its aim was to look at the "Downsizing of large nuclear, defence and research
facilities and sustainable employment". Those taking part were the Heads of administration and
managers of production at ZATO Seversk and Snezhinsk, the Head of Ozersk city district, representatives
responsible for economic development of ZATO Sarov and Zheleznogorsk, Directors of VNIIEF, VNIITF,
the Mining Chemical Combinat in Zheleznogorsk, PO "Mayak" and representatives of Rosatom and CNCP.
The main aim of the Study Tour was to give the management of enterprises and heads of city
administrations an opportunity to study the UK experience of economy restructuring to help solve
the problem of the creation of sustainable jobs for nuclear weapons scientists and engineers facing
redundancy. It provided an unique opportunity to compare the Russian experience with that of UK
colleagues.
The Study Tour was organized on the same basis previous as previous study tours as part of a
systematic approach education within the framework of CNCP. In 2003 the topic was the "Transition
period of nuclear scientific and research institutes and mechanisms of development of innovative and
high technological companies in Oxfordshire". The 2004 Study Tour dealt with the conversion of defence
nuclear plants and corresponding enterprises in Scotland and Western Wales, environmental
rehabilitation on site, as well as mechanisms created by state and private organizations to promote
high technological innovation and creation of small enterprises. Issues concerning the commercial
application of scientific research to the civil and defence sectors underlay the study tour in 2005
to the west of Great Britain.
During the 2006 tour, participants were provided with detailed information concerning the activities of
British supervisory and regulatory bodies, system of business education and adaptation to commercial
environment, planning and management of process of redundancy, strategic approach to staffing and
participation of trade unions and local enterprises in these processes. The intensive programme of visits
to nuclear sites, industrial, scientific, educational and administrative organizations included Capenhurst
(BNFL, BNG), Barrow in Furness (BAE Systems), Sellafield (Calder Hall, Windscale, Sellafield, Westlakes
Research Institute, Westlakes Science Park), Daresbury, Liverpool (Ford) and Harwell (UK Atomic Energy
Agency's UKAEA, Rutherford Appleton Laboratories), Oxford.
During the visit the following areas were discussed: issues of maintaining and restructuring nuclear and
defence enterprises, staffing strategy, economic and social obligations during decommissioning of nuclear
facilities, support to entrepreneurship and development of spin-off companies, regional social and economic
development.
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