Mikhail Kovalchuk, Director of Russian Research Center Kurchatov Institute

— The formation of Atomenergoprom will allow Russia not only to preserve one of the leading positions in the world but will also stimulate the development of nano-technologies in the country’s nuclear fuel production cycle

“The law was adopted by overwhelming majority of votes. It was indisputable. In the first reading it was actively discussed by all of our political forces. The formation of Atomenergoprom will allow Russia not only to preserve one of the leading positions in the world nuclear power engineering but will also stimulate the development of nano-technologies in the country’s nuclear fuel production cycle,” says the director of the Russian Research Center Kurchatov Institute Mikhail Kovalchuk.

Speaking of the Jan 19 adoption of the law on the reformation of Russia’s nuclear power sector, Kovalchuk says that the formation of Atomenergoprom is a very important event. “For the first time, Russia will form a state company of trans-national scale, a real high-tech player in the world. The creation of nuclear fuel, fuel elements, plenty of other problems is not just pumping gas nor even generating electricity. Atomprom will certainly promote competition in the sphere of high technologies,” says Kovalchuk and notes that the world leading players are tending to integrate and, unless Russia has an equivalent structure, it will not be able to compete with them. 

“In my opinion, the formation of Atomenergoprom is crucial for the development of high-tech in Russia. Just like the creation of a nuclear bomb once boosted the development of our industrial complex and the whole country, now, too, we are creating a company that will introduce nano-technologies — technologies that are in high demand in all spheres – in new metals, materials, fuel elements. Hence, Atomprom will become an industrial basis for Russian research companies, a structure interested in the results of their scientific work.”