The "VOLGA" conferences, hosted in odd-numbered years by the Department
of Theoretical and Experimental Reactor Physics of the Moscow
Engineering Physics Institute (MEPhI), are some of the most prestigious
technical meetings held in Russia. Traditionally, these conferences
present the opportunity for reactor physicists from around the world to
gather at MEPhI's holiday camp on the banks of the Volga river (near
Tver) to exchange ideas and explore innovative concepts related to
nuclear power development. In 1997, NATO became involved in the "VOLGA"
meetings for the first time by co-sponsoring "VOLGA97" as an advanced
research workshop. This workshop broke with tradition a bit in that the
venue was moved from MEPhI's holiday camp to a location nearer Moscow.
The workshop program was effectively organized in order to cover a broad
range of topics relating to the theme of the meeting. Generally, the
papers concerned safety- related questions associated with utilizing
both weapons-grade and reactor-grade plutonium in the nuclear fuel
cycle, including facility requirements, licensing issues, proliferation
risks, and a variety of advanced concepts for alternative fuel cycles.
The program contained a total of ninety-nine papers presented in five
days of sessions.