Igor Igoshin, deputy of State Duma

— Rosatom’s plans are ambitious but realistic

On Oct 11 the State Duma approved the first reading of a bill on the establishment of Rosatom state corporation.

The bill stipulates the establishment of a state corporation, which is supposed to replace the Federal Agency for Nuclear Energy, to unite the civil and military sectors of the nuclear industry and to ensure its stable work. The Corporation will comprise Atomenergoprom holding and the federal state unitary enterprises owned by the Federal Agency for Nuclear Energy, i.e. the nuclear weapons complex, research institutes and nuclear and radiation safety agencies. The Corporation will be subsidized by the Government and special reserve funds.

“Since the times of the Minsredmash (Ministry of Medium Machine Building) the nuclear industry has been a single structure – a system uniting the civil and military sectors. In the past decades that system has proved its efficiency. Nuclear complex is one of the few high-tech sectors that it is still highly competitive in the world.”

Experts say that the Corporation will help the Government to more actively introduce new technologies in the nuclear sector and to attract private investments. Recently, the head of Rosatom Sergey Kiriyenko said that after 2015 the Government will stop financing the construction of nuclear power plants because the industry will have already earned enough money for building them on its own. In the coming 20–30 years preference will be given to complexes consisting of 3–4 standard reactors and one fast breeder reactor.

“Just a few years ago many people claimed that the only way for the nuclear industry to develop was to borrow money from banks but the most elementary estimates show that in such a case a slow construction would run short of money. What we need is quick growth in electricity production. That’s why government financing is the optimal solution for the time being.”

“By 2016 we will see a number of important changes in the nuclear industry. First, the industry will transit to market relations. We will have no more disparity of prices (I, first of all, mean natural gas). Consequently, nuclear power plants will start to earn much more and will be able to invest own money in own projects. Second, the number of NPPs will grow. In 2012 we will start launching, at least, two nuclear power units a year and will have 1.5 times more NPPs by 2016. And third, we will have effective management and technological solutions and will be able to make our nuclear industry more economical. I mean fast breeder reactors. So, the stoppage of government financing in 2016 is an ambitious but quite realistic goal.”