Signing of memorandum of understanding between relevant education and science institutions and government representatives regarding nuclear program proposed

The ministry of mining and energy of Serbia, Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic, has talked to representatives of public enterprises, regulatory bodies, directors of institutes and the deans of faculties from Belgrade, Novi Sad and Kragujevac which deal with nuclear technologies and nuclear safety about the creation of the conditions for the launching of this civil nuclear program in Serbia.

Djedovic Handanovic said that the aim of the meeting was to talk to all the relevant education and science institutions which do scientific research of nuclear energy about what needed to be changed and improved in order to have the preconditions to develop the civil nuclear program in Serbia, it is said on the website of the Government of Serbia.

– At the meeting, it was proposed to sign a memorandum of understanding between the relevant education and science institutions and government representatives in order to define the necessary steps and action plans with the participation of professionals – the minister pointed out.

As she said, this will enable each institution, in its own domain, to do its part of the job and take the necessary steps to achieve the desired goal, which is to have a good basis – educational, technical and scientific, in order to be able to develop the nuclear program in our country.

Djedovic Handanovic pointed out that it was also important because of the return of experts in that field from abroad, who should recognize the potential to work in their field in Serbia.

The minister emphasized that the aim of the initiative was to use arguments and dialogue to get to the right information about what the development of the nuclear program meant, what the benefits were, what the risks were and how they could be minimized and overcome.

She added that she also expected other representatives of the government and other relevant institutions to get involved in the initiative.

According to her, the current law does not set obstacles to educational and scientific work, but we need to adjust our regulatory framework so that we can go a step further, that is, to have nuclear facilities in the next decades.

The minister said that the creation of the preconditions for the use of nuclear energy also included market analyses about the available technologies on the global level, because decisions on technologies and partners could only be made based on those analyses.

– It is important to get to the best technical solutions, but also to have a good educational basis, which will educate the generations that are coming to manage this program to the benefit of all citizens, because this is an issue of energy stability, economic development and society as a whole in the decades ahead of us – said Djedovic Handanovic.

Before it proposes changes to the regulations, the Ministry of Mining and Energy plans to carry out public consultations about nuclear energy, she announced and added that the debate should be well-argued, fact-based and had by experts.

The minister emphasized that “a joint effort is needed in order to bring this topic closer to the public, instead of, for example, having disinformation and the spreading of untruths about how nuclear waste from other countries will be stored in Serbia, which is not true.”

Ministarstvo rudarstva i energetike Republike Srbije

Ministry of Mining and Energy

Dubravka Đedović Handanović

nuclear technologies

nuclear safety

civil nuclear program