None of Russia’s partners in the sphere of nuclear power industry is going to change their plans after Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant disaster in Japan – said the head of Rosatom Sergei Kirienko during the meeting with the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
“We are constantly monitoring the position of key countries on nuclear power industry development. It is very important that our main partners have not changed anything in their nuclear strategies.” – said Kirienko.
The disastrous earthquake in Japan on March 11 resulting in tsunami caused a series of failures in Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant because of the destruction of cooling system. Governmental bodies had to evacuate people from the areas near the nuclear power plant, since there were reports of radiation leak. After that a number of countries announced their plans of putting on ice all further nuclear power projects.
Commenting on the situation in Germany, Italy and Switzerland, where the nuclear power programs were scrapped, Kirienko pointed out that those countries have not really developed their nuclear power industries for some time.
‘These are countries which built their power plant fleets long time ago. Germany has not built a new nuclear power plant for 15 years or even more. So they’d been thinking it over, whether they should start building again?..And then they rejected the idea…They have not built for a long time and – to be honest – they have lost the capacity. I mean — today both Germany and Italy would not be able to build a nuclear power plant. They would have to either outsource the technology, or hire someone from abroad, thay’ve lost the competence already”’ – explained the head of Rosatom.
“None of the countries we are working with have backed off. It is clear that the main contributors in nuclear power industry development at present are China and India. They have not changed their programs, including the programs of their cooperation with us.” — quotes Kirienko RIA Novosti.
The representatives of IAEA say that it is too early to draw final conclusions after Japanese nuclear disaster. As the assistant director of the agency Alexander Bychkov points out, in order to make nuclear power industry safe there must be rethinking of international approaches to nuclear safety as well as the system of preparation towards serious accidents in general.
He also claims that he does not believe in considerable drop of nuclear power share in the global energy out-run. According to Bychkov, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey continue with their nuclear power plant projects and develop their nuclear programs actively. On IAEA list there are only 10 countries which either rejected or expressed their doubt in the expediency of “atom for peace” development.
Photo: the head of Rosatom Sergei Kirienko
Метки: Fukushima I, nuclear power industry, Rosatom, Sergei Kirienko
