Russia Increasingly Filling Demand for Nuclear Technology

Russia Increasingly Filling Demand for Nuclear Technology

Jun 04 - USA TODAY

When Russian President Vladimir Putin stopped in Saudi Arabia this year, he had a sales pitch.

During the first trip by a Russian head of state to the Middle East in 80 years, Putin told a meeting of businessmen in February that Russia would be more than happy to provide technology and other assistance to Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations looking to develop nuclear energy.

It's a pitch that's paying off. As demand for atomic energy booms across the globe, Russia has become an aggressive seller. In January, Putin was in Delhi to shake hands on a deal to build four nuclear power reactors in India. Last month, Russia said it would design and build a low-grade reactor in Burma.

"Moscow is increasingly intent on increasing its share of the nuclear fuel market," says Cliff Kupchan, an expert on Russian energy at the Eurasia Group, a New York-based consulting firm.

The market for nuclear power generation is growing. The International Energy Agency in Paris estimates that worldwide demand for energy will increase by more than 50% by 2030. As oil and natural gas become more costly and concern over global warming grows, nuclear power is increasingly an economically competitive and cleaner alternative, the agency said last year. About half the world's energy consumption goes to generate electricity.

Concerns over energy supplies and carbon-dioxide emissions are prompting Europe to re-examine nuclear power after largely abandoning it for 30 years. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates said in December that they would consider a joint nuclear program. Last year, President Bush and Congress provided tax incentives to spur construction of nuclear plants in the USA.

However, some fear that the spike in demand may be leading Russia to market nuclear technology to nations with dangerous political situations or ambitions. Russian assistance was crucial to the development of the nuclear program in Iran, which the United States suspects of seeking to create a bomb.

The case of Iran indicates that Russia may be "blind to political situations and political consequences," says David Satter, a Russia analyst at the Hudson Institute, a think tank in Washington, D.C.

"If you build a reactor, you've got to have people go to Russia to be trained or be trained in the country. That opens up avenues of technology that can be misused," he says.

The types of reactors marketed by Russia also concern Satter -- especially a floating reactor that Russia is developing to deploy in the Arctic to provide power to remote areas.

"That could be a real danger," he says, especially if it is sold to Asia.

Russia also often overlooks environmental and safety concerns, Satter says.

Kupchan, however, says Russia has upgraded its nuclear program since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. He questions whether the floating reactor will be developed or marketed. And he says Russia has become more circumspect and responsible in its handling of nuclear fuel and technology transfer.

He points to how Russia increasingly is backing away from Iran's nuclear program. Russia stopped cooperating on the Iranian reactor earlier this year, citing financial issues. And Russia has voted in the United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions on Iran for refusing to suspend its uranium enrichment program.

"They've turned around 179 degrees on Iran policy," Kupchan says.

*Nuclear power surge, 1A