In November 1997, the United States and Kazakhstan agreed to conduct joint safety projects with the primary goal of ensuring the safe operation of the BN-350 reactor through the end-of-life, including the fuel transfer and storage, operations and maintenance, and decommissioning. Partial achievement of that goal will be accomplished by a program to build the safety infrastructure of Kazakhstan primarily
through U.S. support of the Nuclear Technology Safety Center (NTSC) in Kazakhstan. To build in-country expertise, it is necessary to first create, then augment steadily, a safety analysis infrastructure. The safety infrastructure will be achieved through the performance of joint projects, including but not limited to, the exchange of data of properties of structural materials important to safety, student exchanges, and the exchange of data from the shutdown/decommissioning of EBR-II and planning the shutdown of BN-350. As part of the joint projects, a Student Exchange Program was established. The technical objective of the Student Exchange Program was to identify scientific projects at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and in Kazakhstan that were of technical and academic value in contributing to the future of nuclear safety in both countries.
Seven potential projects at ANL and three projects in Kazakhstan were identified.

PROGRAM INFRASTRUCTURE

The Student Exchange Program is open to all undergraduate and graduate students. Applications for the Student Exchange Program will include the application form, a resume, transcripts, and two letters of recommendation. Application forms can be obtained through the ANL Department of Education Programs web page (www.dep.anl.gov) and on the NTSC web page (www.ntsc.kz). The deadline for submitting the application form and all other documentation is July 31, 2000. On October 2, 2000, two students from Kazakhstan will come to ANL and simultaneously two U.S. students will go to Kazakhstan. The duration time for the internships will be 10 weeks. Students will perform the scope of work as identified by the following projects. A written report from each student is due on April 30, 2001.

VISA REQUIREMENTS

United States Visa Requirements:

· Name: Family, First, Middle:
· Gender: Male/female:
· Date of Birth: (day, month, year):
· City of Birth:
· Country:
· Citizen of which country:
· Legal Permanent resident of:
· Passport No: passport number:
· Expiration Date:
· Position of applicant:
· Starting Date of Visa:
· Ending Date of Visa:
· Field of Research:
· Organization Providing Support:
· Amount of Support: · Resume:
· Candidate will work with:

Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan Visa Requirements:

· A completed visa application form
· A passport size photo of the applicant
· An original passport
· A consular fee in the form of money order or cashier's check made payable to the Embassy of Kazakhstan (NO CASH OR PERSONAL
CHECKS)
· If application is made by mail, enclose a self-addressed envelope with prepaid postage or completed express mail airbill
· A copy of a certificate stating that you passed a test for AIDS (for a visa for three months or over)

In addition, the following documents are required, depending on the type of visa applied for:

Business Visa:

1.A letter of invitation from a host organization in Kazakhstan. The invitation must clearly indicate the following: name of applicant; his/her passport data; exact name of inviting organization; exact dates of the visit to Kazakhstan; the itinerary. The inviting organization should provide the confirmation (visa support) for your trip through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan.
2.A cover letter from applicant's company, briefly summarizing the purpose of the visit, including some information about the company.

NOTE: Forms and documents submitted in a manner different from that of described above will not be accepted. If you apply personally or through a courier service, you or your courier must get a pick-up receipt from a visa officer. You must present this receipt to obtain your documents when they are ready. The normal processing time for a visa request is 7 days. If you are not provided the onfirmation (visa support) for your trip by the inviting organization through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, it will take 7 days to process for a single entry visa and 14 days for a multiple entry visa. If you apply by mail, please add one more day to the visa processing time.