Russia’s atomic energy minister Yevgeny Adamov says the government would finance efforts to complete four new nuclear units over the next five years. He said it will invest $1.9 billion by the end of 2005 to finish work on two reactors at Rostov, one at Kaliningrad, and one at Kursk. The Russian government has said it plans to spend a total of $25 billion by 2030 to boost production in the nuclear plant sector.
Adamov said financing could come from more than one source. If the Federal Energy Commission approves a request to raise tariffs for nuclear-generated energy by $0.01/kWh, this would bring in $1.3 billion a year. In addition, contracts for nuclear engineering work in Iran, India and China could bring in another $10 billion over the next 10 years. If the parliament amends laws to allow the import of certain nuclear materials, Russia could earn $20 billion by reprocessing spent nuclear fuel.
Adamov said the aim was to boost the share of nuclear-generated electricity in Russia from 15% to 33% by 2030.
