Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev presented a detailed report to the 590th meeting of Russia’s Federation Council (upper house) on Development of the nuclear Industry in the Russian Federation.
He said Russia’s nuclear industry today is a powerful complex of more than 580 enterprises located throughout the country – from Kaliningrad to Kamchatka. The industry employs more than 420,000 employees, and every third employee is from the younger generation. About 60,000 Russian specialists are working on foreign projects, he specified.
Likhachev listed Rosatom’s most important areas of activity. “The absolute priority is the protection of our sovereignty, defence capability, and maintenance and development of the nuclear shield of our Homeland, laid down 80 years ago.” He reported on the 100% fulfilment of the state defence order while consistently increasing the share of civilian products. The President’s order, that by 2030, the share of civilian products at Rosatom enterprises should be more than 50%, will definitely be exceeded. Likhachev said the figure is currently slightly higher than 55% and in five years Rosatom intends to increase it to 70%.
Speaking about projects to ensure Russia’s technological sovereignty, Likhachev highlighted the organisation of navigation on the Northern Sea Route, solving environmental problems, producing new materials, creating digital products and ensuring the security of critical information infrastructure. He said Rosatom pays special attention to breakthrough projects: fourth-generation energy based on fast neutron reactors with a closed fuel cycle, thermonuclear research, as well as fundamental scientific work on the synthesis of new elements of the Periodic table.
He noted that Rosatom provides 20% of Russia’s electricity generation system with 35 power units are in operation at 11 NPPs, including the unique floating NPP Akademik Lomonosov. By 2042 it is planned to build 38 new power units, which will increase the share of nuclear generation to 25%. Nuclear power will expand in the Urals and will be launched in Siberia and the Far East.
During implementation of the general scheme for the development of nuclear energy, it is planned to replicate already proven technologies, Likhachev said. In particular, this means reactors with a capacity of 600, 1,000 and 1,200 MWe as well as small NPPs in both land-based and floating versions. All these projects will be innovative and meet modern energy requirements, he stressed.
Rosatom continues to strengthen its leading position in the international arena, Likhachev said. “The corporation controls about 90% of the global market for the construction of nuclear power plants, while simultaneously constructing 22 power units, ” he said. New units are being built in China, India, Turkey, Iran, and Bangladesh. And in 2024, Russia signed the world’s first agreement to build a small NPP in Uzbekistan. “Our country is one of the world leaders in fuel processing, enrichment, fabrication and raw material reserves. Therefore, despite foreign political pressure, Russia is strengthening its position,” he added.
At the same time, competition among suppliers of nuclear technologies is increasing. According to Likhachev, China and India are actively moving forward here. The response to these challenges will be to expand our product line: Russia is ready to export not only small, medium and large-capacity NPPs, but also science and nuclear technology centres, state-of-the-art medical equipment, and localisation systems for nuclear enterprises in cities. “In fact, we offer our partners, friendly countries, the export of technological sovereignty,” Likhachev said.
Likhachev also noted that Rosatom’s area of responsibility includes 31 cities in Russia, where the state corporation’s enterprises make powerful investments in the socio-economic development of territories. These include investments in the construction of new schools, kindergartens, and training centres for future Rosatom employees.
First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy Ivan Abramov asked how the sanctions restrictions may affect current and future projects of the State Corporation.
He said that although “it doesn’t make our lives easier” it had not stopped development – apart from in Finland. [Rusatom Overseas and Finland’s Fennovoima signed a contract for the construction of the Hanhikivi-1 NPP in late 2013. The Finnish side cancelled the €7-7.5bn ($7.9-8.5bn) project in May 2022].
“The only country that defiantly refused to cooperate with us is Finland…. The Finnish business did not have the courage to defend this project during the years of sanctions pressure,” he noted. “We are currently in court mode. We don’t care much about the political beliefs of the Finnish government. They should pay, in our opinion, and compensate us for the losses that were incurred during the first stage of construction and the creation of the project.”
He added: “We will be present in the European market one way or another and will cooperate in uranium supplies with the United States of America, unless another decision is made.” He said Rosatom’s foreign exchange earnings for 2024 amounted to about $18bn and the share of revenues from deliveries to unfriendly countries remained constant at 20% or about $4bn. “This figure has been at the same level for the last five years. But the volume of revenue from friendly countries is growing, as today we offer the most competitive products on the foreign market,” he noted.
A number of senators asked questions related to the disposal of hazardous waste. Likachev said Rosatom has the capacity to dispose of industrial waste of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd hazard classes. He drew attention to the effectiveness of cooperation with the working groups on environmental projects established by the Federation Council and expressed hope for further fruitful cooperation.
He explained that, using fast reactors, used nuclear fuel is not waste, but can be recycled for re-use in a closed nuclear fuel cycle. He noted that, by 2028, it is planned to physically launch a fast neutron reactor with lead coolant to demonstrate this [the BREST-OD-300 under construction in Seversk]. “In addition to high environmental friendliness, such a reactor has natural safety, and its design allows us to say that major accidents at such reactors are almost impossible.”
This is the basis for “a completely different economy”. For the operation of fast reactors, “we do not need new [uranium] deposits” since “those small fractions of natural uranium that are necessary to produce new uranium in such a fuel cycle are already present in the existing deposits and stores that are located there”.
Summing up the discussion, Chairman of the Federation Council, Valentine Matvienko, noted that Rosatom remains a global world leader, with no competitors in most areas. She said Rosatom was an example not only as an innovative company, but also as a leader in terms of social responsibility.
