US Energy Department delegation visits Saratov

A US Energy Department delegation headed by Harry Stabblefield, the leader of the Radiological Dispersal Devices (RDD) program, visited the city of Saratov (Central Russia), the Saratov region industry ministry reported on Saturday. The RDD program is designed to protect radiological materials and sources of ionizing emission from the threat of international terrorism. A joint conference was held, with Russia's Kurchatov Institute scientific center representatives taking part.

The meeting touched upon the issues of protection and operation security of the radwaste storage site of the Radon enterprise in the village of Doktorovka, Tatishchevsky region, as well as of this enterprise's participation in the RDD program. The foreign guests were satisfied with the technical state of the storage site protection systems.

The decision on the elaboration of the RDD program was taken at the meeting between US Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and Russian Federation Nuclear Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev, which was held shortly before the Russia-US Presidents' summit. The program will be financed within the framework of US technical and financial aid to Russian nuclear waste storage sites.