Rosatom’s technologies among safest, most advanced in the world

Rosatom’s technologies are among the safest and most advanced in the world, Russian expert and analyst Dmitry Baranov told reporters, BelTA has learned.

Speaking about the prospects of the Russian-Indian cooperation in the nuclear industry, Dmitry Baranov said that India's energy needs will be increasing in the coming years.

"India will need to produce more energy to improve the quality of life of people and develop the industry, as India competes with China for leadership in Asia, including in economy. This rivalry will only get tougher. It is clear that India will not abandon traditional power engineering. But the country is now paying more attention to environment and has already shut down several harmful plants and old heat power stations. Therefore, priority will be given to those energy sources that do not pollute the environment, in particular, to alternative energy and nuclear power. For a number of reasons the nuclear power industry can be more preferable. In particular, a nuclear power plant occupies less land as compared to alternative energy facilities and has the greater coefficient of efficiency. The technologies in the nuclear industry have long been developed and tested and their effect is known," he said.

According to him, many countries will take part in the development of power engineering in India. "It's understandable. After all, these are large-scale projects and a good challenge. Funds allocated for this purpose are big, which means good profits. However, there is no doubt that India will choose the partners from among those countries with which it has been coopering in this area and has a considerable positive experience of working together. Russia can be named India's key partner here," said the analyst. Russia could provide assistance to India in the development of renewable energy sources, if need be. But the most logical cooperation is nuclear energy in South Asia, he said.

"There are several reasons for this. First, Russia and India have been cooperating successfully in the nuclear industry for several decades. Secondly, Russia always offers its partners attractive financial conditions, fully taking into account their interests. Thirdly, Rosatom’s nuclear technology is among the most advanced and safest in the world today, and this, of course, needs to be taken into account," said Dmitry Baranov.

The construction of the first phase of the Kudankulam NPP in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu using an AES-2006 VVER is in progress. The first unit of the nuclear power plant was connected to the power grid in October 2013. The second unit is expected to come on stream in the spring of 2015.

According to media reports, the IAEA recent study suggests that India needs to significantly increase nuclear power capacities and extend the grid to give access to energy services to 300 million people. Currently, the average per capita energy consumption in the country is 673 KWh per year. This is the fourth of the world average, according to the IAEA study. According to the report, the main priority for India should be the increasing energy consumption and connecting households to the power grid. To meet this challenge India will need investments in the energy sector. Renewable energy and peaceful atom should play a key role in the creation of environment-friendly energy mix.