Russia must and will stay a great nuclear power, Mr Putin said as he was meeting with scientists. He said that the Federal Nuclear Center had made a very good impression on him from the point of R&D, safety and the state of the nuclear arms complex.
Nuclear arms remained the basis of Russia’s security, and their quality must be up to the highest standards for applicability, effect and safety. At the same time, the Federal Nuclear Center should implement its achievements as extensively as possible for civil production and the use of the latest nuclear technologies for peaceful purposes, the President said.
As he talked to scientists, Mr Putin said that Russia was determined to stand by its pledges not to conduct nuclear tests provided that other nuclear countries would also stick to their obligations.
The Federal Nuclear Center in Sarov concentrates the talent and knowledge of several generations of outstanding scientists and engineers. This powerful intellectual and technological capital must fully serve the country. Despite certain problems, nuclear research and industry were reviving, and the personnel inflow to the nuclear sector had recently grown ten-fold, the President said.