Russian President Vladimir Putin has launched a power start-up of the world’s most powerful neutron source – the PIK neutron reactor at the St. Petersburg Institute of Nuclear Physics (PNPI) named after B. P. Konstantinov in Gatchina. The launch ceremony was held in the format of an online conference. TASS reports.
“I ask you to bring the PIK reactor to the power mode of operation,” the head of state said during the ceremony. After the launch, Vladimir Putin congratulated the participants of the scientific experiment on the Day of Russian Science and wished them successful and fruitful work.
The PIK reactor is a modern high-flux neutron source, which, in a number of its parameters, is the world’s best facility for studying matter at the nanoscale level. It is part of one of six projects that the Russian government has included in the program for creating megascience-class installations in the country.
Earlier, the Minister of Science and Higher Education of Russia Mikhail Kotyukov proposed to give scientists from the countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) access to mega-science installations located on the territory of the states that are part of the union. According to him, the circulation of ideas and the international mobility of researchers will contribute to the further development of the SCO.