Russia welcomes EU cooperation talks

Monday, 22 February 2010

The Russian government is welcoming anticipated talks with the European Union (EU) to negotiate a nuclear partnership agreement that would facilitate nuclear trade and exchange of knowledge on safety issues.

 

The EU's executive arm, the European Commission, was given a mandate to begin talks at the end of last year, and the new college of commissioners taking office for five years this month will be responsible for moving the process forward.

 

The move was welcomed by Sergei Novikov, spokesman for Rosatom, the Russian state atomic energy company. "I'm sure we'll participate fully in this," he told World Nuclear News. "The European Commission has been given permission to proceed and we think this gives us all the chance to create new opportunities. This should give the green light to new projects."

 

Russia has negotiated bilateral nuclear cooperation agreements with several EU countries, and Novikov pointed out that such agreements were in place with France, Germany, the UK and several other EU members. "We've worked separately with many EU countries. This is just at the early stages but dialogue in itself is good."

 

Last autumn, Russia agreed in principle for co-operation on nuclear components with the Czech Republic, with trade centring on Skoda which specialises in nuclear engineering and supplies for the nuclear energy industry.

 

Russia is one of the main global suppliers of nuclear materials and equipment and a key supplier of nuclear fuel and related nuclear fuel cycle services to nuclear power plant operators in the EU. Several EU member states – including Bulgaria and Slovakia – currently operate Russian-designed nuclear power stations. If the agreement is secured (as expected), it would follow four similar EU deals with the Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan and the USA and further reflect the EU's desire to shift away from carbon-based fuels – with nuclear energy being a key part of future EU energy mixes. Outgoing EU energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs has hailed the talks as "an important step, which will give a new impetus to EU-Russia relations in the energy sector."

 

The Latvian said it was "in the interest of both sides to reach a comprehensive agreement on nuclear cooperation," given that it would create "a stable and predictable legal framework both for the governments and the industrial operators," it would try to harmonise Russian safety and security standards with those in the EU, boosting "legitimate nuclear trade."

 

The importance of forging such a deal has risen for the EU because of the accession of 12 new member states since 2004, many of which were former communist states with older Russia-designed reactors, some of which the EU has insisted be closed. But newer Russian reactors are highly regarded and this has been recognised by the Commission. It said in a communiqué: "Several EU member states are operating reactors of Russian design and further reactors are planned." It noted "the importance of Russia as a nuclear supplier to the EU", and also indicated the potential breadth of the talks, underlining the importance of "nuclear safety, nuclear liability and non-proliferation" in EU-Russia bilateral relations.

 

By Mark Lowe and Keith Nuthall

for World Nuclear News