From 6 to 17 November 2017 in Vienna (Austria) the regional network STAR-NET organized the internship programme for students of the Belarusian State University (BSU), who are trained under the State programme of the Republic of Belarus on personnel training for nuclear power. The group included students of the physics faculty of BSU, students of the International Sakharov Environmental Institute of BSU and teachers.

Practical training was organized in cooperation with the Atominstitut of the Vienna Technical University at the research reactor TRIGA Mark-II. The internship programme was also supported by the Learning Management System STAR-NET LMS.

At Atominstitut, the BSU students were given a unique opportunity – to control the reactor by themselves, to feel themselves as an operator, in practice to understand responsibility for the actions performed, and, ultimately, to realize the link of “theory-practice” that is necessary for the training of a qualified specialist in nuclear industry.

As part of the training programme, few technical visits were organized: a visit to the Vienna International Center; a visit to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) laboratories in Seibersdorf, where students received presentations about the tasks of the laboratories and the current projects; as well as a visit to the Zwentendorf nuclear power plant.

In addition, as part of the training programme, a series of lectures was delivered by international experts in various fields of nuclear energy, including a lecture by the IAEA Deputy Director General Mr. M.V. Chudakov, which allowed students to form a comprehensive understanding of the current problems and prospects for sustainable development and safe use of nuclear energy, and primarily in the Republic of Belarus.