YEREVAN. – A US-sponsored workshop on nuclear energy was held Thursday in Armenia’s capital city Yerevan.

During the event, US Ambassador to Armenia, John Heffern, was on hand during the establishment of a long-range communication link with a nuclear reactor in the United States; this was the first such initiative in the Caucasus. As a result, the experts were able to use, from a long distance and for laboratory exercises, the TRIGA research reactor of the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

The aforesaid communication link was envisioned by the ten-day workshop program, which was organized under the aegis of the U.S. Department of Energy, in collaboration with Armenia’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, Yerevan State University, and State Engineering University of Armenia.    

The objective of this workshop was to introduce to university students the matters concerning nuclear energy, nuclear safety and reactor designing, to be able design nuclear safety procedures and ensure the safe operation of Armenia’s Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant.