UK-Russia Closed Nuclear Cities Partnership

Oxford Study Tour

Objectives

Visit to Decommissioned Reactor at UKAEA's Harwell Site

Familiarize Russian delegation members with all aspects of technology commercialisation and sustainable economic development in Oxfordshire, one of Europe's leading centres for high-technology commercialisation.
Introduce Russian delegation members to a wide variety of senior managers responsible for various stages of the innovation process and help them develop a network of potential commercial contacts.

Summary

Meetings during the week-long Study Tour were designed to highlight each step in the innovation cycle, initially focusing on the origination of a bright idea and the practical steps scientists take to move from the theoretical concept stage to the start-up phase.

The week began with a visit to the state run nuclear research institute at Harwell, managed by the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). Representatives from UKAEA discussed their experiences of a complex conversion situation and the current roles of UKAEA in decommissioning the research legacy and managing Harwell as a commercial business. Delegation members visited high-technology business incubators and met with a several companies specializing in financing start-up technology companies. They also met with a variety of government organizations and institutions that provide multiple types of support for innovation in Oxfordshire and promote economic development in Southeast England.

Cost

The DTI funded the Oxford Study Tour for a total cost of £28,500.

Duration

March 23 - 30, 2003.

Beneficiary

Siberian Chemical Kombinat, Seversk

Seversk Polytechnical Institute, Seversk
All Russian Scientific and Research Institute for Technical Physics, Snezhinsk
All Russian Scientific and Research Institute for Experimental Physics, Sarov
Avangard, Sarov
Mining and Chemical Kombinat, Zheleznogorsk
Uralsk Electrochemical Kombinat, Novouralsk
City Administration officials from Zheleznogorsk, Sarov, Novouralsk, and Snezhinsk.
Representatives from the Departments of Conversion, International Relations, and Protection of Information and Nuclear Materials, Federal Agency for Atomic Energy Department.