On December 29, 2020, an online event was conducted in Moscow to sign a new Agreement between Rosenergoatom (part of the Electric Power Division of Rosatom) and the French energy company Électricité de France (EDF) on the continuation of the full membership of the JSC in Materials Aging Institute (MAI)* for 2021-2024.

The Agreement was signed by Valery Bezzubtsev, Director for Technological Development of Rosenergoatom on the Russian side, and Alan Le Gac, Vice President of the Generation Division of EDF, on the French side.

The signing ceremony was also attended by the Director of the Materials Aging Institute, coordinators of the REA-EDF cooperation, MAI project managers, managers and leading specialists of Rosenergoatom JSC and AO VNIIAES.

Full member status allows Rosenergoatom not only to take an active part in all MAI projects, with appropriate access to reports, software and data, but also provides the opportunity to use research results and scientific information collected by MAI and receive recommendations from experts.

Today, the Institute for Aging of Materials, which was established in 2008 by EDF, is an international organization working towards the study of the aging of materials used in nuclear power plants. Its main tasks include study of aging mechanisms using modern experimental installations and equipment, development of calculation programs on basis of that equipment, preparation of scientific justifications for service life extension, as well as exchange of knowledge and accumulated experience in the field of aging of materials.

To participate in MAI projects within the framework of the current agreement, Rosatom also attracts the largest Russian scientific organizations, such as AO VNIIAES, Kurchatov Institute SSRC, TsNII KM Prometey.

The JSC has joined them on a number of international projects, such as: "Reactor pressure vessel integrity", "In-vessel devices", "Aging management of concrete structures", "Aging of polymer materials used at nuclear power plants", "Products of destruction of organic compounds and their impact on corrosion resistance of structural materials of the primary circuit of NPP with VVER and PWR reactors". The JSC has also, by now, already prepared proposals for participation in the project "Improving the reliability of eddy current testing of tubes of steam generators at NPPs with VVER and PWR reactors in the presence of deposits", which is set to start in 2021.

Mr. Hing Yip Wong, Director of Materials Aging Institute said: “The renewal of the full membership of the company in MAI is significant for both Rosenergoatom and EDF. Today the company is one of the largest international participants in terms of the number of technical contributions among all MAI members”.

He also noted that all these projects in the field of studying the aging of materials used at nuclear power plants are not only of major international importance, but will undoubtedly contribute to further improving the safety level of nuclear power plants around the world, including service life extension of power units of Russian and foreign nuclear power plants up to 60 years.