22 March 2000
(Oil production, fiber optics projects under Nuclear Cities Initiative) (950) The U.S. Energy Department says its Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) signed two contracts in Moscow March 17 to assist Russian weapons experts in their transition to civilian employment. A March 21 press release said the contracts, for oil production and fiber optics projects, were developed as part of the U.S.-Russian strategic planning process for the city of Snezhinsk under the Nuclear Cities Initiative (NCI). The goal of the NCI, according to the release, is to allow Russian scientists to remain in their homeland and work on civilian and commercial projects as Russian weapons facilities are downsized or closed. "The Energy Department together with its laboratories is working to help Russia transition from manufacturing weapons of mass destruction to applying scientific knowledge to new profitable and peaceful areas of work, such as energy and communications," Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said. "The Russians have great technical capabilities and it is in everyone's interests to help apply those skills to a civilian economy," he added. The Energy Department also announced that LLNL and the All-Russian Research Institute of Technical Physics (VNIITF) have agreed in principle to form an open computer center at Snezhinsk where Russian software engineers could help relieve some of the worldwide shortage of computer programmers. This would be the second open computing center created in Russia under the Nuclear Cities Initiative, the release said, the first being in Sarov. Following is the text of the release: (begin text) U.S. Department of Energy March 21, 2000 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ANNOUNCES RUSSIAN CONTRACTS Technology Projects include Oil, Fiber Optics, Computers On March 17, the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) signed two contracts in Moscow that will assist Russian weapons experts from the closed city of Snezhinsk to transition to civilian employment. The projects include developing oil production technology and improving Russia's fiber optic cables for the commercial market. "The Energy Department together with its laboratories is working to help Russia transition from manufacturing weapons of mass destruction to applying scientific knowledge to new profitable and peaceful areas of work, such as energy and communications," said Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson. "The Russians have great technical capabilities and it is in everyone's interests to help apply those skills to a civilian economy." The contracts were developed as part of the U.S.-Russian strategic planning process for the city of Snezhinsk under the Nuclear Cities Initiative (NCI), a Department of Energy effort to help the Russian government provide civilian employment opportunities to weapons scientists in closed Russian nuclear cities. The goal of the NCI is to make it possible for the Russian scientists to remain in their homeland and work on sustainable civilian and commercial projects as facilities in Russia's weapons complex are downsized or closed. The contracts follow U.S. export control rules and all applicable laws of both countries. The contracts, signed by representatives of LLNL and SPEKTR, a State Unitary Enterprise, are summarized below: -- Oil well casing perforators. Oil wells, when drilled, are lined with metal casings that support the surrounding geology and prevent gas, oil and water from mixing in the well. The Russians at SPEKTR already provide, for their domestic market, explosive charges for perforating the casings, allowing the oil to flow effectively at selected depths. With approximately $220,000 in U.S. support over the next year, the Russians will develop perforation technologies that apply to more diverse geologic conditions and casings. DOE explosive technology will not be transferred; the department is only providing resources to assist the Russians to develop their own technology for their domestic economy. -- Fiber optic development. Fiber optics are the method of choice for faster digital information transfer in local and long-distance telecommunication links. SPEKTR technologists will make a type of optical fiber called multi-mode fiber that is used in local area networks. This is a niche market, worth approximately $300 million world-wide annually, that the SPEKTR fiber optics can fill. Under a two-year contract they will raise the quality of their multi-mode fiber to world standards, demonstrate production capability to satisfy commercial demands and develop business relationships with cable suppliers that will commercialize their product. LLNL and the All-Russian Research Institute of Technical Physics (VNIITF), also agreed in principle, as part of the strategic planning process, to form an open computer center at Snezhinsk and will work toward signing a future contract to begin the commercial software and scientific computations effort. Skilled Russian software engineers working at the center will be able to relieve some of the worldwide shortage of programming talent. High quality Internet lines will link the center with customers inside and outside Russia, just as with other commercial software development centers around the world. This will be the second open computing center created in Russia under the Nuclear Cities Initiative; the first, in Sarov, was created by Los Alamos National Laboratory and dedicated on Oct. 1, 1999, by Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson and Russia's Minister of Atomic Energy Yevgeniy Adamov. SPEKTR was founded by the Russian weapons lab VNIITF as a separate organization to perform commercial work to provide employment to former weapons scientists. In English the full name of VNIITF is the All-Russian Research Institute of Technical Physics. This Institute is one of two in Russia that designed and tested nuclear weapons and which now maintains their nuclear stockpile. VNIITF is located east of the Ural Mountains, within the closed city of Snezhinsk, which used to be known as Chelyabinsk-70. (end text) (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)