ROSATOM, University of Indonesia and National Nuclear Agency of Indonesia held a Session in Jakarta in the Wake of World Festival of Youth and Students

On 09 November 2017 the discussion about the role of youth in understanding modern sustainable technologies was highlighted during the session held by ROSATOM State Atomic Energy Corporation (Russia), National Nuclear Energy Agency of Indonesia (BATAN) and University of Indonesia in Russian Center for Science and Culture in Jakarta. The session was conducted as a follow up of the 19th World Festival of Youth and Students (WFYS) in Sochi, Russia, on 14-22 October 2017. Future technologies were one of the agendas at the festival, which was attended by more than 25,000 delegates from 185 countries, including significant representation from Indonesia.

Ambassador of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Indonesia, H.E. Mikhail Galuzin in his speech conveyed that as a leader in nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, Russia sees youth holds strategic role in the development and the use of nuclear technology.

“It is very important to provide a proper and thorough education about nuclear technology to the youth, including in Indonesia, in order to give them a good understanding about the benefit of nuclear energy for future human generation. Therefore, Russia gives huge opportunity to youth generation to pursue education in Russia and learn the development of the latest nuclear technology”, said Ambassador Galuzin.

“As both economically and environmentally viable energy source, nuclear has the capacity to support sustainable development on a global scale. However, it is constantly being affected by prejudices based on the lack of basic knowledge about nuclear power and radiation”, says Egor Simonov, Head of ROSATOM Southeast Asia, a regional office of ROSATOM State Atomic Energy Corporation. According to him, ROSATOM cooperates with the University of Indonesia and supports projects such as WFYS with the aim to encourage the young generation to explore more about the benefits nuclear energy creates for the better future.

Head of Dissemination at BATAN, Dimas Irawan, explained Indonesia has basically realized the importance to engage students in promoting nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, and to fulfill national energy up to 2025 in accordance with National Energy Policy, Indonesia allocates 25% for new and renewable energy as the energy source. Nuclear is included in this category, he noted.

“Nuclear does not replace the existing alternative energy sources, but to complement it. There is no way that these existing new and renewable energy resources can fulfill 25% of national energy so nuclear is included. Therefore, it is important for youth to understand nuclear technologies so that they can share this knowledge to others and also to the next generation,” said Dimas.

He continued, Indonesia through BATAN has had several education programs about nuclear. Since 2011, BATAN provides scholarship to students to pursue their study on nuclear or nuclear-related technology, incorporating with several universities in Indonesia, including University of Indonesia. In 2014, BATAN has also initiated the formulation of Indonesia Nuclear Youth Community (KOMUN) which is a community for the students to learn and discuss about the update and latest information about nuclear technology. KOMUN consists of students from universities in Indonesia and has more than 500 members today.

The 19th World Festival of Youth and Students was held in Sochi (Russia) from October 14th till October 22nd, 2017. Over 25 000 participants from 185 countries shared their experiences and ideas on the global future development. Under the topic "Industry of the Future", discussions on the values of the future, modern technologies and topical issues related to the environment and sustainable development took place.