Ac tuality October, 17, 2007

Uranium-base nanostructures were got in Saint Petersburg State University (SPSU). With the help of these developments it is possible to find landmark decisions

of urgent problem for Russia that is utilization

of nuclear waste. In addition, not only creation of uranium-based materials will become possible but also while it in shipment they will have environmental protection improvement.

Scientists applied for inclusion of the project

in Center of nanotechnologies founded in SPSU.

By the end of 2007 the special equipment from Germany will be installed at the geological faculty of SPSU.

These are the infrared spectrometers by the “Bruker” firm and diffractometers by “STOE” to the sum of 40 million rubles ($1,6 million). Using new equipment scientists will be able to continue their unique researches in the sphere of oxygen compounds with uranium at the level of nanoparticles.

Researches of nanostructures of oxygen compounds with uranium began in SPSU in 2004 in collaboration with Moscow Institute of physical chemistry and electrochemistry named after A.

Frumkin, Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) and Kiel University (Germany). The similar researches in field of study of group of actinium series (uranium, neptunium, plutonium and americium) are conducted by scientists in the USA, Germany and France.

“Nowadays Russian science underbuilds for a future breakthrough in the spheres of the applied technologies in our country,” as Sergey Krivovichev, the head of the crystallography department of the Geological faculty SPSU says. “These materials can be used in development of new technologies of environmental protection from radio-active and toxic elements, recycling and burial of liquid radio-active wastes, and also in creation of new materials with unique optical properties.

Now estimation of the practical results

of fundamental researches is difficult.

Application of nanotechnologies on the base of new knowledge of scientists about existing natural compounds of uranium will become possible in some years”.
Presently there are about 30 nanoprojects in SPSU, and 80 projects in the sphere of nanotechnologies to the sum of 2 billion of rubles ($80 million) have development tests.

Considerable support of the SPSU initiatives in area of nanotechnologies became possible due to the university participation in realization of the project «Innovative educational environment in a classic university» within the priority national project of Russia «Education».