Yuri Barmakov, scientific manager of VNIIA

– We have technical capacities for implementing the pre-crisis nuclear energy development plan

The share of nuclear power plants in total energy production in Russia must be increased to 25%-30% despite the financial crisis, Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin said during a conference on nuclear energy at Kalinin Nuclear Power Plant in Tver region. He said that under the crisis this task needs special attention. Putin also granted Rosatom’s request for additional capitalization worth 50bln RUR.

The development of nuclear energy is given national priority as our natural strategic goal is to ensure sufficient amount of energy for normal development after the crisis. I believe that we do have technical capacities for implementing the pre-crisis nuclear energy development plan. We simply must do it as without developed nuclear energy we will not be able to ensure long-term development.

If we find money, the crisis is the best time for construction. We will have a lot of labor force. So, we can say that the crisis is playing into our hands.