The heads of the largest specialised companies and organisations of the BRICS + member countries, including from Russia, China, South Africa, Brazil, Iran, Ethiopia and Bolivia, attended the first meeting to establish the Atomic Energy Platform. During the meeting, which took place at the Moscow Museum “Atom”, the participants discussed the initiative and outlined further plans.
The main goal of the platform is the development and implementation of best practices and advanced approaches regarding the energy and non-energy applications of nuclear technologies for peaceful purposes in the BRICS and BRICS + markets.
The platform also envisages the development of incentive mechanisms and models for the implementation of nuclear industry projects in member countries. By 2050, according to forecasts of Russian experts, the BRICS countries will provide at least half of the world’s energy production and consumption, while nuclear energy will play an important role in meeting the growing demand for it.
“Almost all states of the association are implementing projects in the field of nuclear energy, emphasised Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev. “Many BRICS members today are technological drivers of the international nuclear market. General experience can and should be used and replicated throughout the BRICS space and on the planet as a whole. Therefore, we propose to combine efforts within the framework of the BRICS nuclear platform – a voluntary alliance of companies, professional nuclear communities and NGOs supporting the development and implementation of nuclear technologies.”
Orpet Payshotu, Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Brazilian Association for the Development of the Nuclear Industry (ABDAN – Associação Brasileira para o Desenvolvimento de Atividades Nucleares), noted: “I am very glad that the process of organizing the Platform has begun. I am sure that cooperation of the BRICS and BRICS + countries through the new association will be fruitful. Brazil has a very diverse energy balance, and nuclear energy is an integral part of it. We are one of the very few countries with all the elements of the nuclear fuel cycle. But we need support, we need funding, and we know that we can get them in the framework of cooperation with the BRICS countries. The new platform opens up great opportunities for us here.”
A delegation from the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI), led by Hossein Derakhshandeh, AEOI Deputy Head and CEO of Iran’s Nuclear Energy Production & Development Holding Company, attended the meeting. “The creation of this BRICS nuclear platform is seen as a pivotal step toward increasing cooperation in nuclear technology,” Tehran Times noted.
At a press conference after the meeting, Likhachev explained that the new platform would not represent countries. “Countries – definitely no, but companies, plants, research institutions – yes everybody related to technologies, science, the nuclear industry, those capable of contributing to development of the nuclear power sector,” he said.
He added that work to develop the legal formalities for the platform had already started. The decision to support Rosatom’s initiative to establish such a platform was unanimous, he noted. “It is no exaggeration to say it was the unanimous opinion of all meeting participants, all attendees of our session – to create the BRICS nuclear platform and start formulating its legal framework as soon as possible. And it has already started.”
The BRICS group, when it was formed in 2009, comprised Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Other countries have since joined, including Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the UAE. Saudi Arabia was invited but has yet to decide while more than 20 other countries have expressed interest in becoming members.
