Turkish pupil to visit Russia for nuclear power lessons

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

This file photo taken during a press tour shows employers at the Kalininskaya power plant located close to builder Rosatom’s headquarters in Moscow.

Senior high school students have been included this year in an education program on nuclear energy in Russia. 

The students will be assigned to the Akkuyu nuclear plant, which will be built by Russia in the southern province of Mersin, after receiving certificates. 

Some 49 university students, who passed tests and interviews, were sent last September to Russia’s Mephi University in Moscow, Hüseyin Chechenov, advisor to the general manager of the Akkuyu Nuclear Plant, said yesterday.

An additional 75 students will be sent to Russia for nuclear education at the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year, he said, adding that a gatekeeping test would be conducted on July 1.

“Some 250 volunteer senior high school students will sit a pilot test in Ankara and Mersin. Then, successful students will sit the test on July 1, which university students will also enter. Students from all over Turkey may sit the tests in Ankara and Mersin,” Chechenov said, adding that only math and sciences students were eligible for tests.

A total of 600 Turkish students will be educated in nuclear energy for 6.5 years, he said. The students will be given a $500 monthly grant, dormitory space and free plane tickets.