Russia to build at least 3 nuclear units/year from 2015: official

Moscow (Platts)--3Apr2007

Russia plans to build a minimum three nuclear power units per year from
2015 to meet its goal of raising the share of nuclear power in the country's
energy balance to 25% by 2025 from 16% at present, the head of Russia's
federal atomic agency Sergei Kiriyenko said Tuesday.

The country intends to build at least two new nuclear units annually
starting from 2007 and increase the pace of the construction up to three units
per year from 2015, raising it to four units per year later, Kiriyenko told an
energy forum in the Kremlin.

Kiriyenko said that Russia had built only three new units over the last
15 years. The country's nuclear sector would shrink to 2.5% of the total
energy balance by 2025, if it built new units with the similar pace, he said.

In 2006, ten Russian nuclear power stations--including 31 generating
units--produced a record 154.7 TWh, or about 16% of Russia's electricity.

The most recent generating unit, at the Kalininskaya nuclear power
station, became operational in December, 2004.

"We are to commission new units starting from 2012 as it takes about
five years to build a unit," Kiriyenko said.

By that time, the nuclear sector would become competitive on Russia's
market, due to a recent governmental decision to raise gradually domestic
price for gas up to international levels by 2011-2012, he said.

Currently, more than 50% of Russia's electricity is based on gas
generation, with hydro and nuclear sectors being limited by low domestic
prices for gas, he added.

---Nadia Rodova, nadia_rodova@platts.com