A delegation of the Veksler and Baldin Laboratory of High Energy Physics JINR took part in the International Conference “Modern Problems of Nuclear Energetics and Nuclear Technologies” held on 23 – 25 November 2021 in Tashkent (the Republic of Uzbekistan) and dedicated to the 65th anniversary of the foundation of the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences (INP AS RUz).

The Conference brought together 190 participants from 10 countries. Representatives of scientific, scientific and educational, and scientific and production organizations of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Australia, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Italy, and other countries took part in the event. In total, there were 130 reports made during the three days of the conference. The conference was held both in person and online via videoconference.

The main mission of the event was to get acquainted with modern trends in the fields of fundamental and applied nuclear physics, the latest achievements in the nuclear power industry, the development and application of nuclear technologies, nuclear medicine. The conference also aimed to broaden and enhance international scientific cooperation.

A set of welcoming speeches opened the event. Director of the Institute of Nuclear Physics AS RUz I. I. Sadikov, President of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan and Plenipotentiary Representative of the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan in JINR B. S. Yuldashev, Scientific Secretary of the Department of Physics-Mathematics and Technical Sciences of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan S. A. Bakhramov, Senior Vice President for Commerce and International Business of TVEL Fuel Company of Rosatom O. A. Grigoriev welcomed participants of the conference.

The management representatives of VBLHEP Department No.5 of Scientific and Methodological Research and Innovation S. I. Tyutyunnikov (online) and O. V. Belov (in person) presented their plenary reports at the conference. M. S. Novikov, M. G. Sapozhnikov, M. Paraipan, R. Akberov, and I. A. Kryachko took part in the sections on nuclear energy and advanced nuclear energy facilities, radiation physics of condensed matter, and nuclear and radiation safety.

During the visit, there were several working meetings of the VBLHEP delegation with representatives of the INP AS RUz and the Republican Specialised Scientific and Practical Medical Centre for Surgery under the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Participants of the conference had an opportunity to study the objects of the INP AS RUz research infrastructure such as the nuclear reactor, the cyclotron, the electron accelerator, the gamma setting, and the neutron generator. All these facilities are used to perform fundamental and applied research in a number of advanced fields of modern science and technology.

Possible directions of collaborative work in applied research at the NICA complex were proposed as a result of the discussion of new prospects for cooperation between JINR and scientific centres of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Colleagues from Uzbekistan expressed their interest in elaborating the possibility to join international collaborations on research in the fields of life sciences and radiation materials science using accelerated ion beams of the NICA complex.

The parties agreed to continue their close cooperation on the discussed issues.