Russia to Keep Nuclear-Energy Expansion Plan to ’Balance’ Mix, Putin Says
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Russia is keeping its plans to increase the share of nuclear power to have a “balanced” energy industry.
“We need to produce as many units, I mean big units, as in the entire Soviet period,” Putin said at a meeting with trade unions in Penza, central Russia, yesterday. “Our energy should be balanced; it should be based on several sources: nuclear, hydrocarbon, hydro power, wind, solar panels.”
Russia is seeking to increase the share of nuclear power in total electricity generation to about 25 percent within 10 to 15 years, up from 16 percent now, Putin said.
A devastating earthquake and tsunami last month in Japan forced some countries, including Germany, to revise their nuclear power programs. Putin ordered an inspection of all Russian reactors after the Japanese disaster, he said yesterday.
Russia’s reactors are “the safest in the world,” Putin said, citing data of the International Atomic Energy Agency. “I can say that with pride and full responsibility.”
Russia drafted proposals to help develop new safety standards for global nuclear energy after the Japanese nuclear crisis, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Apr. 26, the 25th anniversary of the nuclear accident in Chernobyl, Ukraine.
To contact the reporters on this story: Ilya Arkhipov in Moscow at iarkhipov@bloomberg.net Anna Shiryaevskaya in Moscow at ashiryaevska@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.net; Will Kennedy at wkennedy3@bloomberg.net
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