On Thursday the 26th March 2009, high level representatives from the Ukrainian and UK Governments will converge on Slavutych City, Kiev Region, to witness the culmination of advanced technology transfer collaboration, between the two countries. As part of the UK Global Partnership Programme, the Slavutych Municipality has built a "state of the art" Town Information Network based on WiMAX technology, with extensive support from a team spearheaded by Lancaster University in the UK.
Following more than five years in the planning, design and construction, the final pieces of the network were recently installed and the whole system has now been tested to international standards. The highlight of the launch event will be a live telecast through the newly established hi-tec network between the UK Government Minister Mike O’Brian, in Whitehall, London, and the Town Square of Slavutych, Kiev Region, where representatives of Ukrainian State and Municipal Governments, the British Government and the Slavutych Community will be assembled. Following the Minister’s address, children from a UK school close to Lancaster University and those from Slavutych Lyceum will exchange local information with each other.
Programme Director at DECC, Mark Higson said "Following the widely acclaimed success of the Social and Economic Consequences Programme, this legacy project has been the icing on the cake. The technology itself is impressive, but the way it has been implemented, "against the odds", is a credit to all concerned. It has been demonstrated through this project, that with limited resources, and emerging technologies properly applied, surprising things can happen and great futures can be envisioned".
The design, development and implementation of the project has been undertaken exclusively in Ukraine using Ukrainian contractors, principally Datagroup, with Technical Assistance and supervision being provided by Lancaster University, Rinicom and others. "Part of our role is to investigate how technology can improve people’s lives. Every indication is that providing high speed access to the web and creating new, information based services, will advance the standard of living for all Slavutych residents" said Professor Markarian who lead the Lancaster University support team.
Volodymyr Udovychenko, Mayor of Slavutych remarked "Sluvutych might be Ukraines’ youngest City but we are learning fast! We have a vision for the future which will see our Town transformed into a ground breaking 21st century e-city. We have completed the first step but there is much still to do. The DECC programme has had a lot to do with this evolution".
For further information please contact Larisa Nikitenko:
lar@bda.org.ua , tel. +2-47-80, 2-47-85
Notes to Editors:
The UK programme to address the social and economic consequences of nuclear power closure forms part of a much larger £32.5m per year programme to improve the nuclear safety, nuclear security and non-proliferation legacies of countries of the Former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe (nuclear safety and security and non-proliferation of nuclear materials and expertise). The UK nuclear legacy programme is the UK’s contribution to the $20 billion, over ten years, ‘Global Partnership’ programme that was agreed at the G8 Summit in Kananskis, Canada in 2002.
The Cologne European Union Council meeting in 1999 emphasized the importance of high standards of nuclear safety in Central and Eastern Europe and stressed the significance of nuclear safety in the context of the European Union’s enlargement and bi-lateral aid proposals. It was decided that assistance should be provided to encourage the closure of non-upgradeable reactors at the earliest practicable dates.
The objective of the UK Programme has been to enhance the safe operation and decommissioning of the selected Nuclear Power Plants by facilitating lasting employment in alternative activities for the employees and their families in the NPP Regions.
The outputs anticipated from the overall UK Programme in the CEE communities affected by NPP closure are:
- Employment opportunities for redundant INPP personnel;
- Sustainable businesses with UK partners;
- Development of enterprises and entrepreneurship;
- Enhancement of capacities among the labour force for adaptability and the skills needed in the labour market;
- Business infrastructure for local economic development.
Under the ‘social and economic consequences programme’ support has been given to Lithuania (Ignalina), Bulgaria (Kozloduy) and Ukraine (Chernobyl). For further, more detailed information see: http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/environment/soviet-nuclear-legacy/index.html)
DECC is the UK Department for Environment and Climate Change and was previously part of BERR, Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, which was previously known as DTI; Department for Trade and Industry. DECC now holds the port folio for Nuclear Issues and has two key responsibilities in this context:
- To facilitate new nuclear investment in the UK i.e. to enable operators to build and operate new nuclear power stations in the UK without public subsidy plus to build and maintain the UK as the best market in the world for companies to do business in nuclear power. Also, to create and support a globally competitive UK supply chain, focusing on high value added activities to take advantage of the UK and worldwide nuclear programmes
- To advise the Secretary of State on his regulatory and policy functions in relation to the nuclear industry i.e. DECC has policy lead on nuclear safety, security and safeguards plus waste management and decommissioning. Also, responsible for implementing the nuclear elements of Global Threat Reduction Programme which encompassed social and economic consequences of nuclear power plant closure programme
WiMAX Technology is a wireless digital communications system, also known as IEEE 802.16, that is intended for wireless "metropolitan area networks". WiMAX can provide broadband wireless access (BWA) up to 30 miles (50 km) for fixed stations, and 3 - 10 miles (5 - 15 km) for mobile stations. In contrast, the WiFi/802.11 wireless local area network standard is limited in most cases to only 100 - 300 feet (30 - 100m).
WiMAX can be used for wireless networking in much the same way as the more common WiFi protocol. WiMAX is a second-generation protocol that allows for more efficient bandwidth use, interference avoidance, and is intended to allow higher data rates over longer distances.
The launch timetable includes site visits to recent social and economic infrastructure projects in Slavutych and Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant by the participants.
For further information about the results of the UK DTI programme in Slavutych see: www.investing.org.ua
