Russia aims for 20% of construction market

Thursday, 5 April 2007 Russia has further emphasised its plans to play a major international role in nuclear power plant construction. "In the next thirty years the world is to build 300 to 600 GW of new nuclear generating capacity and Russia plans to have 20% of this market," said Rosatom director Sergey Kiriyenko, speaking to a Russian energy forum.

According to Kiriyenko, Russia is building a vertically integrated company, AtomEnergoProm, to operate in the civil nuclear industry and "compete with the world's leading nuclear power plant builders."

Russia has been working hard of late to ply its trade as a nuclear constructor around the world. Russia's AtomStroyExport (ASE) is already involved in the construction of a total of seven nuclear units in China, India, Bulgaria and Iran, and earlier this year an agreement to build a further four reactors at one of those sites, Kudankulam in India, was reached. Russia and Kazakhstan recently agreed to joint ventures in uranium exploration and enrichment and production of nuclear fuel, and Kazakhstan has confirmed an interest in joining Russia's plans to create an international uranium enrichment centre at Angarsk. ASE has also indicated plans to build a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan, possibly resurrecting a Soviet-era project to build a nuclear plant at Balkhash. President Vladimir Putin of Russia is due to visit Kazakhstan in May 2007, with the enrichment project and joint development of Kazakh uranium on the agenda.

Further information

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WNN: Russia and Kazakhstan add to cooperation