New Rosatom appointments seen as paving road toward reform

New Rosatom appointments seen as paving road toward reform

London (Platts)--29Mar2006

Sergey Kiriyenko, head of Russian federal nuclear agency Rosatom, last week
named a new director general to national nuclear utility Rosenergoatom, or
REA, in what observers saw as another sign of yet more wrenching reform to
come in the country's nuclear bureaucracy.

Kiriyenko, who himself was named only a few months ago to head up Rosatom, on
March 16 named Sergey Obozov as acting director general of REA, replacing
Stanislav Antipov, whom he named his personal adviser.

Obozov had come to REA only three months ago as deputy director general and
head of the division responsible for construction of floating nuclear power
plants.

Kiriyenko also named Alexander Lokshin, director of the operating company
Smolensk Nuclear Power Plant, to the new position of REA first deputy
director.

Russian experts see the turnover of high managers as the start of the
anticipated restructuring of Rosatom and creation of a nuclear vendor
organization known informally as Atomprom, on the model of gas supply giant
Gazprom ("prom" stands for "industry"). Putin and Kiriyenko have made no
secret of their desire to set up such a holding company that would combine all
the branches of the former Soviet nuclear complex into a powerful nuclear
power and fuel cycle corporation.

Kiriyenko has already appointed new directors in several enterprises and
institutes forming the agency's structure. In particular, last week he
appointed Nikolay Petrov to replace Yevgeniy Yeliseyev as director of
ZarubezhAtomEnergoStroy, which is responsible for construction of
nuclear-power projects abroad and one of two shareholders in export vendor
Atomstroyexport. Just before, on March 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin
hosted a government session devoted to development of the nuclear energy
branch.

Rosatom has drafted a bill that would regulate separation between the civilian
and defense branches of the nuclear complex, and allow private investment in
the civilian enterprises.

REA would be incorporated into Atomprom and would no longer be the customer
for new nuclear power plants.

The draft legislation addresses the task of setting up an international
uranium enrichment center, considered urgent and which Putin has made a
priority. It states that foreign legal entities will be allowed to receive
services offered by such a center.

This would guarantee Iran access to enriched uranium produced in the proposed
Russian center. Such a move could help resolve the current international
struggle over Iran's enrichment program, since it would theoretically remove
Iran's need to enrich on its own territory. But Kiriyenko has said the center
would be needed for other developing countries that want access to nuclear
energy as well.

This story was originally published in Platts Nucleonics Week. Request a free
trial at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/

Please visit: www.platts.com

Their coverage of energy matters is extensive!!.