Tashkent, Uzbekistan, May 17
By Demir Azizov - Trend:
Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov has signed a decree to abolish the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Academy of Sciences.
The Radiation Safety Center will be created at Uzbekistan's Ministry of Emergency Situations in accordance with the decree.
It will cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency on deactivation of the nuclear reactor of the Nuclear Physics Institute in line with international safety standards.
The Radiation Safety Center was also tasked to ensure the proper storage, disposal and liquidation of storage facilities for radioactive materials on the country's territory.
The Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Academy of Sciences was created in 1956. A research nuclear reactor WWR-SM with the capacity of 10 megawatts operates under the Institute. The reactor is used to carry out state scientific and technical programs on nuclear physics, solid-state physics, radiochemistry and so on.