The second International Fishing Tournament, organized by the Russian State Nuclear Energy Corporation Rosatom, was held in the waters of the Gulf of Finland on 7 September-8 September. Organized in the format of the European Professional Fisherman's League, the tournament brought together athletes from 10 countries, including Russia.
The event was held in a region close to the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant (NGS), which is Russia's largest operating nuclear power plant in terms of installed capacity and one of the first power plants in the world to have III+ Generation VVER-1200 rectors, the most modern technology offered by Rosatom worldwide.
The area covered by the tournament has been doubled this year. A total of 26 amateur athletes from Armenia, Hungary, Egypt, India, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, South Africa and Turkey, where Russia and Rosatom have implemented or plan to implement their nuclear power plant construction projects, participated in the competition.
This year's winner was Arunabha Sannigrahi and Santosh Jaiswar, who participated in the tournament from India. Representatives of the Fishermen's Association of India thanked the organizers for the event, saying: “For two days we had incredible experiences, doing our favorite thing; we fished. We also caught fish close to the nuclear power plant. Then, we visited the power plant. The size and high technology of the power plant surprised us. We hope Rosatom continues to organize such tournaments. We will be happy to take part in these tournaments.”
An official award ceremony was held at the end of the event. The Egyptian fishermen and the fishermen from Russia and Egypt won the second and third prizes respectively. A participant from India won the "Biggest Hunt" special award. A team from Uzbekistan was also deemed worthy of the “Wisdom to Win” special award.
Fishing competitions allow people to strengthen diplomatic ties, demonstrate that local people in the countries where Rosatom does business are part of the global nuclear community, while demonstrating that nuclear power is safe for the environment, including the flora and fauna of nearby water resources.
Tournament participants were able to confirm not only the fish richness of the Gulf of Finland, but also its cleanliness, thanks to dosimetric control. The weighed fish were then released back into the sea. In total, 7 fish were caught, the weight of which exceeded 203 kilograms. Vladimir Inozemtsev, head coach of the Russian national team, a two-time world champion and a seven-time winner of the world championship, acted as the chief referee of the competition.
Vadim Titov, President of Rusatom International Network Company, said about the tournament: “Although this is the second time this large, international event is being held, Rosatom has been organizing fishing competitions in water resources close to the power plant for more than 10 years. We attach great importance to such events because they represent an opportunity for us to demonstrate that nuclear energy is a clean energy source and that nuclear technology and nature complement each other. We are happy that our guests from nine countries see healthy fish living in the immediate vicinity of the nuclear power plant, which has been in operation for almost half a century.”
Hasan Sünbül, an amateur fisherman from the Turkish team, said the following about his impressions: “We visited the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant and participated in the International Fishing Tournament there. It was a very enjoyable and fun trip for us. It's a different culture. We fished in the Baltic, Gulf of Finland, next to Leningrad. We are happy, it was fun. Radiation measurements of the fish we caught were made. We saw that the radiation level of the fish was within normal values.”
Levent Atalay, an amateur fisherman from the Turkish team, shared his impressions with these words: “We came from Silifke. Visiting the nuclear power plant was a different experience for us. We also feel lucky to have participated in the Fishing Tournament. They said that the radiation levels of the fish we caught were within normal ranges. It was a pleasant trip. Thank you to the organizers.”
As part of the tournament, the participants had the opportunity to tour the Leningrad NPP located in the town of Sosnovy Bor and got acquainted with the work of the nuclear power plant. Today, the Leningrad NPP is a unique engineering structure combining two types of reactors on its site. Visiting the town, where industrial nuclear energy has been developed for half a century and new type reactors have been put into operation, the participants met with the local authorities and met with the residents of the region.
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