Boris Gabarayev, Director General of NIKIET

– It would be good for Russia to cooperate with Argentina

Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation and the Ministry of Federal Planning, State Investments and Services of Argentina have signed a statement on cooperation in the field of peaceful use of nuclear energy.

The statement was signed by Deputy Director General of Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation Nikolay Spassky and Minister of Federal Planning, State Investments and Services of Argentina Julio de Vido in the presence of President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev and President of Argentina Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner

Argentina is one of the most quickly developing countries of Latin America and has one of the biggest experiences in the field of nuclear energy in that region. Argentina has both operating and projected nuclear reactors. As far as I know, the Argentineans operate Canadian heavy-water and French light-water-cooled reactors.
And the most important thing is that they seek independence, i.e. they want to build their reactors on their own.

Argentina also has a well-organized production of molybdenum and cobalt isotopes and is one of the world’s leaders in this field.

I think that it would be good for Russia to cooperate with Argentina. Particularly, NIKIET also sees itself as an active participant in cooperative work on research reactors. This cooperation may offer opportunities of joint construction of research centers in third countries. Thus, by Argentina’s agency Russia may promote its nuclear technologies not only in Latin America but also in Egypt, where Argentina has implemented projects, and other countries.

Russia already has an inter-governmental agreement for cooperation on peaceful use of nuclear energy with Venezuela. I hope that shortly we will sign similar agreements with Mexico, Ecuador, Columbia and may even restore our relations with Cuba.