Νew Technologies and Innovation Development in Russia

Breeder reactors create very little actual waste and can be used to turn spent fuel rods from conventional reactors back into unspent fuel rods that can be reused...

Perhaps instead of looking at fantastic solutions like Thorium, you should perhaps read a bit more about Breeder reactors... the Russians have clearly made their choice.

Bravo to russian scientists !http://nextbigfuture.com/2014/09/ultrahard-fullerite-is-almost-twice-as.html

Novel Carbon Materials in Troitsk, the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), National University of Science and Technology (MISiS), and Moscow State Univ. (MSU) have developed a new method for the synthesis of an ultrahard material that exceeds diamond in hardness. An article recently published in the journal Carbon describes in detail a method that allows for the synthesis of ultrahard fullerite, a polymer composed of fullerenes, or spherical molecules made of carbon atoms.

In their work, the scientists note that diamond hasn’t been the hardest material for some time now. Natural diamonds have a hardness of nearly 150 GPa, but ultrahard fullerite has surpassed diamond to become first on the list of hardest materials with values that range from 150 to 300 GPa.

BTW hows the situation in russia with carbon nanotube production? I know China is starting large scale research and production of it while the US is planning to use it in the military. IMO it would be a huge leap forward for the russian R&D department to start this too, giving both industrial and military benefits.

The future of materials isn't mining for more naturally occuring rare elements but but synthetic materials of low atomic number elements.

GarryB wrote:Breeder reactors create very little actual waste and can be used to turn spent fuel rods from conventional reactors back into unspent fuel rods that can be reused...

Perhaps instead of looking at fantastic solutions like Thorium, you should perhaps read a bit more about Breeder reactors... the Russians have clearly made their choice.

What about a thorium-breeder combination? Sort of like a multifuel engine?

The attraction of Thorium is that there is about three times more of it that can be mined compared
to Uranium.

Why bother when a standard breeder reactor uses Uranium, as used in the reactors the Russians are selling around the world?

A current breeder reactor can be used to reprocess spend uranium rods from exported reactors and sent back to clients to be reused... recycling Uranium means it doesn't matter how much there is of it...

GarryB wrote:

The attraction of Thorium is that there is about three times more of it that can be mined compared
to Uranium.

Why bother when a standard breeder reactor uses Uranium, as used in the reactors the Russians are selling around the world?

A current breeder reactor can be used to reprocess spend uranium rods from exported reactors and sent back to clients to be reused... recycling Uranium means it doesn't matter how much there is of it...

Thorium and MSR's in general have dozens upon dozens of other advantages as well. However, the ease of mining and producing reactor-ready Thorium is its main attraction. It is cheaper, will last far into the future, and shouldn't experience shortages.

Mike E wrote:

GarryB wrote:

The attraction of Thorium is that there is about three times more of it that can be mined compared
to Uranium.

Why bother when a standard breeder reactor uses Uranium, as used in the reactors the Russians are selling around the world?

A current breeder reactor can be used to reprocess spend uranium rods from exported reactors and sent back to clients to be reused... recycling Uranium means it doesn't matter how much there is of it...

Thorium and MSR's in general have dozens upon dozens of other advantages as well. However, the ease of mining and producing reactor-ready Thorium is its main attraction. It is cheaper, will last far into the future, and shouldn't experience shortages.

Heavy water is more copious, but the problem is that fusion thermonuclear power plant is not ready... yet.

higurashihougi wrote:

Mike E wrote:

GarryB wrote:

The attraction of Thorium is that there is about three times more of it that can be mined compared
to Uranium.

Why bother when a standard breeder reactor uses Uranium, as used in the reactors the Russians are selling around the world?

A current breeder reactor can be used to reprocess spend uranium rods from exported reactors and sent back to clients to be reused... recycling Uranium means it doesn't matter how much there is of it...

Thorium and MSR's in general have dozens upon dozens of other advantages as well. However, the ease of mining and producing reactor-ready Thorium is its main attraction. It is cheaper, will last far into the future, and shouldn't experience shortages.

Heavy water is more copious, but the problem is that fusion thermonuclear power plant is not ready... yet.

MSR's are by no means complex... They could be developed and produced within two decades tops. The problem is that they are receiving very little funding, and when they are, it is always within a single country and not a group.

Fusion is still a dream IMHO. LM's recent "announcement" has already been debunked. If Fusion is developed, I'd like to see dense plasma fusion more than its alternatives. - Focus Fusion is an interesting idea, although very controversial...

They could be developed and produced within two decades tops.

They are an undeveloped technology... fast breeder reactors are in operation in Russia now.

Unless Russia has a lot of Thorium and a real shortage of Uranium why invest in such a similar technology?

Russia can keep the existing breeder reactors for itself and use them to process spent fuel rods from export partners to reprocess into fuel again and sell them back to their clients... a double win... normally when you take back spent fuel rods you have to dispose of them... in this case they can re-enrich them and sell them back to the client. Not only that in times of tension they have the potential to enrich large amounts of Uranium to weapons grade quality if they need warheads fast.

Win win situation it seems to me, with no more investment costs or risk.

GarryB wrote:

They could be developed and produced within two decades tops.

They are an undeveloped technology... fast breeder reactors are in operation in Russia now.

Unless Russia has a lot of Thorium and a real shortage of Uranium why invest in such a similar technology?

Russia can keep the existing breeder reactors for itself and use them to process spent fuel rods from export partners to reprocess into fuel again and sell them back to their clients... a double win... normally when you take back spent fuel rods you have to dispose of them... in this case they can re-enrich them and sell them back to the client. Not only that in times of tension they have the potential to enrich large amounts of Uranium to weapons grade quality if they need warheads fast.

Win win situation it seems to me, with no more investment costs or risk.

In principle they are a simple design that should be very easy to develop, can they be made fast, I can't be sure... Either way they have many more long-term benefits than a fast-breeder.

Thorium is relatively abundant in every country, plus it will become much cheaper than Uranium thanks to that fact.

Win-win for the short-term, yes, long-term no.

New nano-coating for medical instruments has shown to be virtually not capable of producing allergies (vastly superior to medical stainless steel in this regard), will reduce Russia's dependency of foreign medical instruments from 5-to-10 fold, will save millions of Roubles, creating significant supply and demand on domestic medical instrument suppliers:

"Roselektronika" developed a protective nano-coating for medical devices
Technology will reduce purchases of foreign medical instruments and 5-10 times



Holding "Roselektronika" belongs to Rosteh, presented at the exhibition "Open Innovation - 2014" technology applying a protective nanocoatings for medical equipment and dentures.

Coating bioinert that makes contact with the medical instrument is harmless (unlike a stainless steel alloy containing heavy metals). In the case of using this technology in prosthetics coating does not cause allergies, even in people with hypersensitivity to denture materials, because the surface is covered with a chemically inert plastic film of silicon carbide. This technology was originally developed for military bayonets, to increase their life without sharpening.

"We are developing work in the field of medical equipment, our companies are developing products for equipping clinics and hospitals. We are committed to the quality of Russian products were not inferior to foreign analogues. We are engaged in the implementation of state policy on innovative development of Russia, creating high-tech products meet world standards in different areas, "- said General Director of the holding" Roselektronika "Andrei Zverev.

Coating of domestic medical instruments will solve the problem of import substitution in the medical institutions of Moscow, as these tools will surpass the quality of foreign counterparts. Procurement instruments can be reduced to 5 - 10 times that of the capital budget will allow to save millions of rubles.

A unique method developed by specialists of the Research Institute of Vacuum Equipment them. SA Vekshinsky.

Participation in the forum are representatives of the Government of the Russian Federation headed by Dmitry Medvedev and representatives of the Government of Moscow. They carefully studied the products provided by enterprises of the holding.

"Roselektronika"  brings together the electronics industry, specializing in developing and manufacturing electronic-component base, electronic products, electronic materials and equipment for their production, as well as microwave devices and semiconductor devices.

http://rostec.ru/news/4514843

Innovations 2.0: The technology sector is preparing for a reset

Participants of the Open Innovations Forum, held in Moscow October 14-16, believe that cooperation between Russia and the EU will continue in the research phase. However, in the coming years Russia's priority will be to develop its own technologies.

Russia is moving to a new stage of development that involves import substitution and the development of its own technologies in most sectors. One of the government's priorities will be to support startups. The new idea is called "Innovations 2.0." Russia's chief partner will be China, although collaboration with the EU will also continue in the area of research. Russia will strive to achieve full national independence in the IT sector.

Isolation could equal innovation

Russian Minister for Open Government Affairs, Mikhail Abyzov, believes that Russia must improve its level of technological development. The "Innovations 2.0" concept would boost import substitution and startups in businesses related to large companies such as Apple and Microsoft.

In the last three years Russia has been one of the top five countries in terms of venture investment volumes, according to Dow Jones VentureSource. Igor Agamirzian, CEO of Russian Venture Company, says that the breakthrough occurred only in the last few years. However, the activity of Russia's largest state companies, especially in the energy sector, is strictly regulated, which makes developing startups impossible.

Nevertheless, Russia's isolation from import technologies will stimulate their development in Russia, said Abyzov. Oil and gas companies, in the minister's words, are already starting to utilize domestic engineering. The government will stimulate private companies financially to use startups in order to make the creation of innovative products more advantageous, added Abyzov at the forum. State companies will be forced to adapt and subjected to so-called methods of "innovative compulsion."

IT and microelectronics: is import substitution possible?

According to Russian Minister of Communications and Mass Media, Nikolai Nikiforov, Chinese companies are now actively entering the Russian market. Cooperation with them will develop in various directions, including software engineering and the creation of supercomputers. In 2015 the city of Ufa will host the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit and a meeting between the BRICS leaders. "For the Russian IT industry this will be an opportunity to articulate its plan in the context of the global market and take a step towards a multi-polar world," said Nikiforov.

Participants of the forum also discussed America's refusal to supply computer software to Russia, as well as the introduction of domestic software engineering. "National independence is unthinkable without the fundamental components of the IT industry, such as database management systems and software," said Igor Boichenko, General Director of Russian software developer Relex. "We are becoming hostages of someone else's ideas." In Boichenko's words, Russia needs its own technologies since the attempt to create clones of American products was "pitiful." According to the Director of InfoWatch, Natalya Kasperskaya, Russian developers have already discussed the import substitution project and are ready to invest and create their own technologies. However, many things will have to be created from scratch. This is not always favorable for companies, many of whom until recently preferred American products.

Private space companies are now having difficulties with the import substitution of microelectronics. Satellite producer Dauria Aerospace until recently had worked with foreign components. The domestic element base was designed for apparatuses weighing more than 100 kilograms, which means that these solutions cannot be used in small components. Dauria Aerospace Project Director Nikolai Vedenkin says that some elements will be created in Russia.

Russia and the EU will continue cooperation in the research phase

Despite sanctions, Russia and the EU countries will continue their cooperation in the field of scientific research, which will be a good basis for the future according to Wolfgang Dik, Director of the Economics and Science Department at the German Embassy in Russia. In his words, there are currently more than 100 joint Russian-German university programs. He believes that it is necessary to expand this "sanction-free" zone and the partnership within it in order to lay a beneficial foundation for the future.

Sergei Chernyshev, Executive Director at Zhukovsky Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute and the developer of new aviation technologies, remarked that Russia and the EU would continue sharing information. In his words, institutes will collaborate and provide each other with information on the commercialization of technologies and their markets.

Many European programs are interested in Russia's participation. This statement was made during the forum by Pekka Soini, General Director of Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation. Soini said that Russia is Finland's biggest partner in the Arctic Seas Program, whose principal goal is to stimulate the development of business and new ecologically clean technologies in the region. The program will be in effect from 2014-2017 with a budget of 100 million euros.

Source: Russia Beyond the Headlines - http://rbth.com/science_and_tech/2014/10/24/innovations_20_the_technology_sector_is_preparing_for_a_rese_40833.html)

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Technoserv, Skolkovo sign partnership

Technoserv, Russia’s largest IT systems integrator, recently signed a partnership deal with the Skolkovo Foundation to establish a research and development center within the region’s innovations hub.

The company, which employs 2,000 people, will transfer approximately 150 of its employees to the new R&D center.

In turn, the Skolkovo Foundation will provide the company with improved access to the Russian market.

Construction of the center will begin later this year.

Technoserv creates, installs and subcontracts IT communications, infrastructure, information security systems, application platforms, power systems and engineering security systems. The company specializes in IT business intelligence systems, outsourcing, support and consulting.

Technoserv works with major organizations and companies throughout Russia. Its clients are involved in the public sector, manufacturing, financial services, transportation, oil and gas, telecommunications, and other important industries affecting the economy.

As part of the partnership, Technoserv will create biometric identification systems and other innovations.

“We believe that one of the IT sector’s most promising areas of development is in creating niche tech applications that are aimed at the specific demands of our clients’ businesses,” Alexei Ananyev, the chairman of the Technoserv Group’s advisory board, said. “It is in this area that we intend to work with the Skolkovo Foundation.”

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