Children are drawing the atom

The city of Yuzhnoukrainsk (Mykolaiv oblast) recently hosted the International Children’s Drawing Contest dubbed “The Peaceful Atom is the Future of the World.” This is the third such competition in three consecutive years, and its participants are children between the ages of 11 and 16 from the satellite cities of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants and children whose parents are employed by the TVEL Atomic Corporation of Russia. According to the press service of Enerhoatom, the National Atomic Power Company of Ukraine, a panel of experts selected the four best works.

The winner was Anastasia Yurkovska, a 13-year-old gymnasium student. Kateryna Sharafutdinova, who attends the Center for Children’s and Youth Creative Activity, came second, and Valeria Dzuhan, representing the Dekor Studio of the Informational-Cultural Center at the Pivdennoukrainska Nuclear Power Plant, took third place. Another student from this studio, 15-year-old Iryna Semenova, received the incentive prize.

The contest is two-tiered, with the first round taking place in the satellite cities and the second one, in Moscow. In May the contest winners will travel to Moscow, where a panel of atomic energy, educational, and cultural experts as well as representatives of Ukraine and Russia’s NGOs will choose the winners of the final stage of this international competition.

The contest organizers are Ukraine’s Enerhoatom and Russia’s TVEL Corporation. They hope that by revealing children’s pictorial talents, they will be able to help them better understand the importance of nuclear energy and involve them in studying problems related to its peaceful utilization.