Russian state atomic energy corporation Rosatom will be conducting an online nuclear quiz contest for school and college students in India, and across the world, according to a company announcement. The contest will be conducted on November 10, on the occasion of World Science Day and in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Russian nuclear industry.
Rosatom is the equipment supplier and technical consultant for the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) in India’s Tamil Nadu state, the first two units of which are already connected to the grid. Rosatom is also collaborating with the Indian operator, the state-run Nuclear Power Corporation if India Ltd (NPCIL), in building four more nuclear plants at Kudankulam – Units 3, 4, 5 and 6 – of 1,000 MW each.
“The goal of the project is to raise public awareness and curiosity in nuclear science, underline its importance in improving our daily lives, and highlight the role nuclear industry plays in making human presence on this fragile planet more sustainable,” the statement said. With the pandemic restrictions that led schools and colleges to move to virtual learning platforms, the contest provides an opportunity for students to participate in a fun knowledge activity from the comfort of their homes, it added.
According to Rosatom, the quiz consists of 25 questions of varying levels of difficulty, ranging from how to obtain gold from mercury to comparing solar power and nuclear power. The quiz will be available in 11 languages, bringing together participants from all over the world. Prominent academics, researchers and scientists are part of the contest to make it even more adventurous and enriching.
“We hope this contest will help in raising awareness among young people about the importance of nuclear power, its role in advancement of science and the latest technological achievements. We hope that the knowledge they gain will inspire them to consider nuclear engineering as a career option, as well as give them a platform to get the knowledge about a variety of scientific facts on the nuclear energy industry,” Rosatom South Asia CEO Andrey Shevlyakov said.
Rosatom values diversity and, therefore, each of the 11 contest languages will have its own expert – all with different backgrounds and from different parts of the world. For example, Professor R. Rajaraman, Professor Emeritus of Theoretical Physics, School of Physical Sciences Jawaharlal Nehru University in India, Mohammed Iqbal Hosan, Assistant Professor, Nuclear Engineering Department, University of Dhaka in Bangladesh, John Lindberg, nuclear expert with the World Nuclear Association (WNA) in UK, Egor Zadeba, lecturer and engineer of the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI in Russia, Asmaa Hanafi, researcher in the energy and environmental field at Alexandria University in Egypt and Petrus Pennanen, Doctor of Nuclear Physics, member of Helsinki City Council in Finland. The students will receive certificates of participation, along with the option to share the certificates on their social media pages or download it on their devices.
The website for the quiz – http://quiz.myfuture.energy/ – is available in several languages, including Tamil and Bengali. The quiz will be available on the website for 24 hours on November 10.
