We’ve mentioned Russian activity in nanotechnology here before, but I hadn’t quite realized the scale of Russian nanotech plans until this article in RIA Novosti:
First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, who is in charge of high-technology development, said in June the government would allocate 200 billion rubles ($7.7 billion) to develop nanotechnology until 2015.
If correct, this sounds like about US$1.1 billion per year. That’s pretty close to what the US spends in the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative. And maybe in purchasing power, it might be more. Of course, I was told on my visit there last summer that about half of the money will be siphoned off into inappropriate hands, but still, that’s a lot of money. Now we know where Europe’s energy payments are going. —Christine
