Valentin Mezhevich, First Vice Chairman of Committee on Natural Monopolies of Federation Council

– Only use of nuclear energy will help us to fight climate changes and to keep our industry afloat

On July 22 President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev chaired a meeting of the Committee on Modernization and Technological Development of Economy. The meeting took place at the Russian Federal Nuclear Center-All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics (RFNC-VNIIEF). The Committee discussed the five key ways to modernize Russia’s economy: energy efficiency and energy saving and production of new types of fuel; nuclear technologies; space technologies (GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System)) and development of land infrastructure; medical technologies (diagnostic equipment and medicines); strategic information technologies (supercomputers and software).

Now that the whole world is experiencing an economic decline, we urgently need modernization and technological development. We must decide which sectors are crucial and can help us to fight the crisis. So, the work of this committee is very important.

It is very significant that the second meeting of the committee took place in a federal nuclear center. This shows that the government gives high priority to nuclear energy. This attitude is based on the experience of the Soviet times (when nuclear energy was a locomotive for other sectors) and on the capacities of the Soviet nuclear complex. We are witnessing nuclear renaissance, especially in Europe: the Europeans dismissed nuclear energy 20 years ago but now are showing more pragmatism and are beginning to realize that only the use of nuclear energy will help us to fight climate changes and to keep our industry afloat.

It should be noted that nuclear energy is given quite a big place in the five priority directions stipulated by the President: it is present in “nuclear technologies,” “medical technologies” (nuclear medicine), “space technologies” (nuclear reactors for spacecrafts), “new types of fuel” (hydrogen energy) and “information technologies” (super-computers).

Thus, just like several decades ago, nuclear energy is becoming our leading sector and is actively developing despite the crisis so as to bring Russia’s economy to a new level of modernization.