05 June 2004 17:57
Bigger share of atomic energy in Russia urged
Sarov (Nizhniy Novgorod Region), 5 June: The development of the atomic energy sector - as one that can ensure the
country's energy security - merits the status of a national priority in Russia's industrial policy, the
chairman of the State Duma Committee for Power Engineering, Transport and Communications, Valeriy Yazev, said today
after a visit to Russia's federal nuclear centre at Sarov.
In terms of the atomic energy sector's development, Russia is behind the United States, France and Japan, he
said, where the share of nuclear power plants in industrial electricity generation is in excess of 50 per cent. In
Russia, this indicator is just 16 per cent, and should be doubled in the next 15 to 20 years for the national economy to
be given a strong new impetus, Yazev believes.
Here, new technologies and developments by physicists from federal nuclear centres have a part to play. Their
experience of work both in nuclear and non-nuclear energy is unique, while their innovative projects should be supported
by the state at the level of major political decision-making, which is the responsibility of the Duma's energy
committee, Yazev thinks.
[ITAR-TASS news agency] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
