ISTC and the Russian Parliament Center held a joint workshop on The Development of International Science and Technology Cooperation in Environmental Protection on April 3-4 at the Russian State Duma in Moscow. The event brought together representatives of ISTC’s funding countries along with over 100 leading Russian scientists and experts on environmental investigations (air, surface water, ground and soil), Federal Assembly and Russian Federation Authority representatives, and members of the media. Delegates discussed how to further cooperate within the framework of the ISTC Program Environment Remediation and Climate Change Mitigation.

Workshop materials were published in the magazines Ecology and Russian Industry, ECOS, Integral - in order to inform the scientific and engineering communities.

Issues related to the environment make up the largest element of the 14 technology areas presently addressed by the ISTC. By April 2008, 420 projects were approved for funding representing $131 million USD provided, by the ISTC Parties and Partners, which represents about 16.7% of the ISTC total project budget to date.

The 19th All-Russian Science and Technological Conference with International Participation,Extreme Robotics, was held on April 08-09, 2008 at the State Scientific Center “Central R&D Institute of Robotics and Technical Cybernetics” (RTC) in Saint Petersburg.

A special ISTC session was held, chaired by Dr. Spassky / RTC and Burkhard Endrullat, ISTC. During this session 12 presentations were given about the objectives, structure and programs of the Center.

For more information about the event:

The conference was organized by the Public Council of RosAtom, International Center for Environmental Safety (ICES) and FSUE ATOMINFORM with the financial support of the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC), Public Council of RosAtom, UK Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority (NRPA) and NNRF Inc. (Germany).

The results of 10 years of work under the auspices of the Global Partnership and ISTC in the elimination of the nuclear legacy of the Russian Navy (White book) were presented.

The forum Nuclear Power, Society, Safety, organized by Green Cross Russia was held on April 21-22 in Saint Petersburg. The objectives of this unique event in Russia are to inform population living near potentially dangerous sites and to provide them the opportunity to express themselves. Crucial concerns related to nuclear power and nuclear waste have been addressed in an impartial way.

The Forum was organized and conducted at the initiative of the Russian Green Cross, in cooperation with the public board of the State Corporation Rosatom and with a large number of participants: Rosatom, Green Cross International, the Swedish Foreign Ministry, Embassy of Switzerland, the ISTC, JSC "Rosenergoatom", VTB Bank, Insurance Group "SOGAZ", CRA "Electronics" in partnership with the Stanley Foundation, Plougshares and others.

In total, about 150 people from Russia, USA, UK, France, Switzerland, Finland, Norway and Austria took part in the forum.

58 presentations on different topics were made, such as: Assessment of major risks in the area of civilian nuclear facilities, retired military facilities (nuclear submarines), spent fuel and radioactive waste management problems, public policy concerning environmental safety of nuclear power facilities and building social acceptance for nuclear energy.

On April 21, a delegation of former Russian defense scientists currently engaged on ISTC projects attended the international energy conference at Hannover Messe, Germany, to present the results of Russian research into innovative hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. The Russian delegation was supported by the ISTC and marks the fourth year where Russian science and innovation offered a significant presence at the exhibition, which is attended by an international audience of both science experts and commercial leaders.

The Russian Federal Nuclear Center (VNIIEF) is now a leader in fuel cell technologies within its conversion program. Prof. Evgeni Novtski, head of the VNIIEF delegation to Hanover said: “Russian development of fuel cell technology is in an exciting period. Many of the leading Russian institutes are now engaged in developing the efficient energy sources of the future, which are vital for the whole of mankind.”

Dr. Victor Emelyanov, ISTC’s Targeted Initiatives Manager, added: “ISTC looks for opportunities not only to present the achievements of Russian science in the modern world, but also to find international partners for Russian and CIS former weapon scientists. Hannover Messe offers an excellent platform to highlight the latest developments in Russian hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, and to further the great benefits to be achieved through international science cooperation and innovation.”

Dr. Emelyanov was joined by 5 former defense scientists who presented the results of their research at a special Russian Innovation session during the exhibition. Of particular note was the first announcement by a team of former defense scientists working in two of Russia’s most prestigious research institutes on a new technique to reduce fuel consumption in modern road vehicles, which would cut CO2 emission by between 5 and 15%. Within the framework of an ISTC project, funded jointly with the Russian Ministry of Science and Education, the science team developed and tested a new type of fuel reformer, a device that produces a hydrogen and carbon monoxide mixture from hydrocarbon fuels like natural gas, gasoline, or diesel fuel, to produce synthesis gas. The gas, when mixed with the main fuel of an internal combustion engine, leads to a decrease in both fuel consumption and exhaust pollution. The Russian science team is now reviewing options for commercial production of the fuel reformer.

Details on ISTC's presence at Hannover Messe 2008 can be found at: http://www.fair-pr.com/hm08/exhibitors/istc.html

The ISTC- IZFP Workshop Research and Development on Safety Technologies was held on April 22-23 at the Fraunhofer Institute for Non-Destructive Testing (IZFP) in Saarbruecken, Germany. The workshop was organized and funded by the Fraunhofer Institute for Non-Destructive Testing and by ISTC.

ISTC financially supported 9 CIS scientists from Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Tomsk, Biysk and Yerevan.

The first Nano-2008, organized by the academies of sciences from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine and sponsored by ISTC proved to be a successful initiative in order to increase awareness of the state-of-the-art of nanotechnologies in three countries of the CIS.

Nano-2008 is a conference with a clear international vocation not only in terms of the CIS but willing to expand their borders toward the EU for example. Close to 500 participants attended the symposium.

ISTC sponsored the event Eurasia Bio 2008 held on April 24-25.

See the program at: http://www.eurasiabio.org/Program/

Anthrax is a dangerous infectious disease for animals and humans as well. The problem of anthrax has a global impact as it occurs on all continents. The modern epidemiological situation of anthrax infection in Central Asia is estimated as intense and without signs of diminution.

The anthrax microbe was used in 2001 as an agent of biological terrorism that resulted in human death and panic among the population. Anthrax as an agent of bioterrorism could result in destruction and invalidity of hundreds of thousands of people (Evans R. G. et al., 2002). Therefore rapid and exact laboratory diagnostics of anthrax is of special significance today.

The purpose of the activity was the training of 9 experts from Central Asia in methods of laboratory research in order to better isolate and identify the anthrax microbe, whether animal or human cases.

Within the framework of this activity, experts from laboratories of Central Asia responsible for the diagnostics of anthrax participated. The training was divided into a theoretical part and a practical session where each participant carried out all laboratory procedures independently.