MOSCOW, October 19. /TASS/. Russia’s Rosatom state nuclear corporation and Serbia’s ministry of innovations and technological development signed an agreement on Saturday to cooperate in building the Center of nuclear science, technologies and innovations, the Russian nuclear corporation said in a statement.

The Russian-Serbian intergovernmental agreement on the issue was signed during Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to Belgrade on Saturday, laying the legal foundation for drafting and signing of first contracts.

The Center will have a multi-purpose pressurized water research reactor with the maximum capacity of up to 20MW, fitted with all systems, equipment, labs and other facilities necessary for safe operations.

According to Rosatom, the center will help to fulfill a range of important tasks, including radioisotope production for medical, industrial and agricultural purposes and neutron transmutation doping of silicone for use in semiconductors.

"The Center of nuclear science, technologies and innovations, which we would build jointly in Serbia, is an innovative project based on most advanced nuclear technologies. The project is based on our long-term cooperation in this area and traditional ties between Russian and Serbian nuclear scientists. We are determined to start putting this project into practice as soon as possible," Rosatom’s press service quoted the state corporation’s head Alexei Likhachyov as saying.

Russian-Serbian cooperation in nuclear technologies

On May 15, 2018, Moscow and Belgrade signed the Joint statement on the principles of cooperation in the field of innovation and technological development in the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. The deal was signed during the Atomexpo-2018 international forum in Russia’s Black Sea resort city of Sochi.

During Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Serbia on January 17, 2019, the sides signed an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in peaceful use of nuclear energy. The sides also adopted a joint statement on the strategic partnership between the countries for the construction of a center of nuclear science, technology and innovation.