Fwd: F.Y.I>: Russia - nuclear export

[Philip Hypes <phypes@lanl.gov>]

RUSSIA:

  RUSSIA TO BOOST EXPORTS OF NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. A spokesman
for the Atomic Energy Ministry's foreign trade department announced at a
press conference on 29 May that President Putin has reversed a 1992
decision to ban exports of nuclear material, technologies, and equipment to
organizations that do not belong to the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA), AFP reported. Such exports will be made if they "do not contradict
Russia's international agreements and if the
governments of the countries concerned assure that they will not be used to
build nuclear weapons," the spokesman said, adding that Cuba, Israel,
India, North Korea, and Pakistan all have civilian nuclear organizations
outside the control of the IAEA.

May 29, 2000    <<...>>
WSJE: Russia Envisions Dozens Of New Atomic Reactors
By JEANNE WHALEN   Staff Reporter MOSCOW
* The Russian government gave preliminary approval to a plan to construct
up to 38 new nuclear reactors by 2020, a prohibitively costly program that
is highly unlikely to be fulfilled but which might reflect Russia's growing
concerns over meeting its power needs. The Ministry of Atomic Energy often
puts forward big plans for the construction of dozens of reactors, and
twice this decade - in 1992 and 1993 - the blueprints were endorsed by the
government. Despite this, not a single new reactor has been built in Russia
since the collapse of the Soviet Union because construction is too costly.
Lingering memories of the fatal 1986 meltdown of a reactor in Chernobyl,
Ukraine, also have curbed interest in atomic power. But declining
investment in gas production and threats of breakdowns at Russia's outdated
gas and coal-fired generating stations may be prompting Russia to
reconsider nuclear power. In recent months, power monopoly RAO Unified
Energy Systems threatened to cut off electricity throughout Russia for lack
of gas supplies. The reactors detailed in the plan would cost $32 billion
(34.34 billion euros) - 50% more than this year's federal budget - to
build. The government's true commitment to the proposal is unclear. A
government press release said the atomic plan "was approved" but that a
host of ministries and federal agencies were asked to draft more specific
proposals by Aug. 1. An official government decree would be needed to
implement a new atomic strategy. Vladimir Slivyak, an environmental
activist with the Ecodefense organization in Moscow, said the most
disturbing aspect of the plan is the atomic ministry's desire to pay for
the new reactors in part by increasing imports of nuclear waste for
reprocessing in Russia. The law prohibits the import of nuclear waste for
storage on Russian territory. It allows waste to be imported for
reprocessing but says waste associated with the reprocessing must be
re-exported. A copy of the atomic ministry's plan, provided by Ecodefense,
recommends that the government remove these restrictions. Igor Forofontov,
an atomic energy expert with Greenpeace in Moscow, said he doubts the
legislature would agree to change the law. Russia's 29 existing nuclear
reactors produced 14% of the nation's energy needs last year. According to
the atomic ministry's report, Russia already has begun to lean more on
nuclear energy: 90% of last year's growth in energy use was provided by
atomic power. The report argues that Russia would be better off diverting
more of its gas reserves for highly profitable export while using more
atomic energy to supply domestic power needs. Running an atomic power
station is significantly less expensive than fueling a gas-fired one, but
atomic power stations demand big investment to build and decommission,
energy analysts said. The ministry's report notes that 13 of the reactors
currently working must be taken offline by 2020. Russia has
enough proven gas in the ground to last another century, but some analysts
say monopoly RAO Gazprom isn't investing enough to keep gas flowing at
current levels of roughly 550 billion cubic meters per year. Gazprom deputy
chairman Pyotr Rodionov this month said insufficient investment would cause
a production drop of 20 billion cubic meters this year. Gazprom earns big
money on its exports to Europe, but in the domestic market, low gas charges
set by the government and widespread nonpayment of bills leave the monopoly
unable to cover its production costs. Meanwhile, UES, which controls 70
regional gas and coal-fired power stations and coast-to-coast power lines,
has warned that the decades-old network needs $40 billion to $75 billion in
investment over the next 10 years for Russia to avoid blackouts.
                       
> 
___________________________________________________________
Philip Hypes
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Safeguards Science and Technology Group (NIS 5)
(505) 667-1556  phypes@lanl.gov

Opinions expressed are purely my own unless otherwise noted

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