The University of West Bohemia hosts the 9th Nuclear Days

Its organizers want to present the nuclear power industry to young people as an interesting field with a lot of potential, and help them find answers to questions like “What energy-related problems do we face today? How does a nuclear reactor work? Is nuclear power safe? Is it environmentally-friendly and useful?” Apart from the series of lectures and seminars, these questions will also be addressed by a unique exhibition on the ground floor of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the University of West Bohemia.

Visitors will have the chance to see a cloud chamber, which is equipment for visualizing the radiation that constantly surrounds us, as well as an image from the cloud chamber. Also on display will be models of various types of nuclear reactors, e.g., a model of a Korean type reactor or that of Atmea, a French-Japanese consortium, and others. Visitors will see mechanical parts of nuclear reactors, including fuel cell models and radioactivity measurement devices, and they will be able to measure the radioactivity of common materials such as wood, glass, etc. The exhibition is accessible free of charge to both students as well as the general public throughout the Nuclear Days event.

Vladimír Poklop and Jaroslav Míl. Not only students will find the nation-wide seminar entitled Question Marks of the Nuclear Power Industry interesting. It will deal with questions regarding the current status of the implementation of the State Energy Concept, preparations for the construction of a new nuclear source, the financial model and particularly the preparedness of the Czech industry for such a project. Speaking at the seminar will be the Government Commissioner for Nuclear Energy, Jaroslav Míl, the former Minister of Industry and Trade, Miroslav Grégr, top representatives of ČEZ and the Ministry of Finance, and Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of ŠKODA JS, Vladimír Poklop. The seminar will be moderated by the renowned expert on the nuclear power industry, František Hezoučký.

Secondary school students are the intended audience of five morning seminars that will take place between April 23 and May 21. The students will surely find it interesting to visit the campus, where they may decide to continue their studies. The organizers want to arouse the students’ interest not only in studying nuclear engineering, but also other technical fields. The morning lectures for secondary school students will be followed by competitions, whose winners will receive a tablet. In the competition, students make a big effort and they are always consumed mainly by its practical part.

The afternoon seminars will target university students as well as the general public and the professional community. An interesting debate can be expected on the topic of The Construction of Nuclear Power Plants in the Czech Republic and Slovakia - Can This Experience Be Used for New Nuclear Sources?, which will be discussed on May 9. Participation in this discussion was confirmed not only by experienced experts, but also by representatives of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. Representatives of companies competing to construct new nuclear power facilities in the Czech Republic – the French-Japanese consortium ATMEA, the Korean company KHNP, the Russian company Rosatom, and the Chinese company CGNPC – were invited to take part in the seminar entitled New Projects and Technologies for NPPs, which will be held on April 23.

“For 63 years, the University of West Bohemia has been providing education to leading experts in the nuclear power industry, who in their daily work ensure the reliable and safe operation of nuclear power plants. Therefore, I am pleased that it is our Faculty of Mechanical Engineering that will once again host the Nuclear Days event, which will provide both students and the general public with an opportunity to obtain the latest information from this field,” says Rector of the University of West Bohemia, Miroslav Holeček.

Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of ŠKODA JS, Vladimír Poklop, adds: “We want to present the nuclear power industry to young people as an attractive field with good prospects. The sooner we address them, the greater the chances that we will meet them again when they are deciding about their future. We are cooperating not only with the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the University at West Bohemia and the Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering at the Czech Technical University in Prague, but also the Secondary Technical School of Mechanical Engineering and the Secondary Vocational School, from whose graduates we recruit much-needed experts, e.g., technologists, mechanical technicians, controllers, but also machinists, fitters, etc. We are pleased that at Nuclear Days, an event created with our participation, we can connect with an even wider circle of young people also from other fields of study and offer them the prospect of an interesting job.”

Complete information about this year’s Nuclear Days is available on the website www.jadernedny.cz