Russia's Nuclear Energy Industry Will Be Competitive By 2012

Russia's Nuclear Energy Industry Will Be Competitive By 2012 - Rosatom

Apr 03 - Daily News Bulletin; Moscow

Russia's nuclear energy sector will become competitive and strong enough to support its own expansion by 2011-12, when Russia switches to competitive pricing for electricity and gas, Atomic Energy Agency (Rosatom) chief Sergei Kiriyenko said.

The government's decision to advance towards a competitive pricing policy regarding electricity and gas, made in 2006, was the main factor that determined the potential for the development of nuclear power engineering, Kiriyenko told a forum on Tuesday concerning Russia's fuel and energy complex in the 21st century

But for the moment, due to pricing specifics, the share of gas is excessive in Russia's fuel and energy complex and that of hydro, coal and nuclear energy is too small, he said. The year 2006 was a record year for the nuclear energy sector as Russia's nuclear power plants reached their maximum production level since the industry was launched.

In 2006, the government also confirmed a federal program to develop the nuclear energy complex, under which Rosatom plans to start the construction of two more nuclear power generating units. By 2015 Rosatom plans to build three nuclear power generating units annually and, in the future, four. According to various forecasts, 300 to 600 nuclear energy facilities will be built globally in the coming 30 years. Russia could claim 20% of this market, Kiriyenko said.