Turkish students to become nuclear engineers thanks to Russian university scholarship

ANKARA (A.A) - June 17, 2011 - Hundreds of Turkish students will study nuclear engineering at a leading Russian university and later be assigned in the operation process of Turkey's Akkuyu nuclear power plant.
A total of 300 Turkish-origin students will attend engineering programs at the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI in the Russian capital of Moscow thanks to a scholarship to be provided by Akkuyu NGS Elektrik Uretim A.S., the Akkuyu Project Company, officials told AA on Friday.
Accordingly, 50 Turkish students will be sent to Russia this September, and 300 students in total will receive training throughout the program, officials said.
Students will first attend Russian language classes for a year, and later study nuclear engineering for 5.5 years. Graduates of the program will be obliged to work at the Akkuyu nuclear power plant for 13 years.
The scholarship covers a monthly allowance of 500 USD, a round-trip plane ticket to be used once a year, university registration & tuition fees, study books & materials and accommodation. Applications for the scholarship will close on June 23.
Commenting on the program, Turkish Energy & Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz said that both Turkish and Russian engineers would work in the construction process of Akkuyu nuclear power plant which would take approximately 6-7 years, and by that time, Turkish students would have completed their education in Russia.
"Several media reports had earlier claimed that foreign engineers would work at the Akkuyu power plant. We are now proving these reports wrong," Yildiz said. 
"Russians will not come here, build the power plant, operate it, then dismantle it and take it away. We will learn about this industry," the minister added.
Through its 9 higher education institutions, MEPhI, the leading higher educational institution of nuclear industry in Russia, is committed to prepare engineers, physicists, mathematicians, systems engineers, researchers, with deep knowledge of physic-mathematical sciences in conjunction with a major engineering training.
In May 2010, Turkey and Russia signed a deal for construction of Turkey's first nuclear power plant in Akkuyu, a small town on the Mediterranean coast, which is expected to cost about 20 billion USD. Russian state-owned atomic power company ROSATOM is likely to start building the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in 2013 and the first reactor is planned to generate electricity in 2018.