In April 2018, the Master in Nuclear Energy will begin, which will be taught for the first time in Bolivia, in the postgraduate unit of the Faculty of Exact Sciences and Technology of the Autonomous University Gabriel René Moreno (UAGRM). They were more than two years of previous preparation to decree this department that will be done face-to-face and virtually through online lectures given by foreign teachers.
The master’s degree will be based on three thematic axes, which are: nuclear reactors (for the generation of clean energy), nuclear medicine (laboratory and nuclear measurements) and agro-industry (food irradiators). The objective is to give a practical application to nuclear energy, which has been used for several years in countries such as Spain, Mexico and Argentina.
On an international scale, the UAGRM made alliances with institutions in Spain, Mexico and Argentina; on a national scale, with the Bolivian Society of Physics.
The coordinator of the postgraduate unit of the Faculty of Exact Sciences and Technology, Alfredo Padilla, explained that the specialty is transdisciplinary, meaning that each professional can apply it from their field of study, and set an example for doctors cobalt pumps (radiotherapy machines) that are currently used in the Oncology Hospital and that can use this type of energy.
Padilla said that in the agroindustry this energy is used to improve the quality of food. He gave the example of direct irradiation of food to reduce losses and increase its conservation period, which is achieved by exposing food to a dose of gamma radiation predetermined and controlled by harnessing the energy of radiation for the elimination of insects and germs pathogens.
