One could be forgiven for thinking that the global nuclear industry is facing a meltdown. The industry was rocked by the collapse of Toshiba’s US nuclear giant Westinghouse last year, which has raised questions about Europe’s largest new nuclear plant at Moorside in Cumbria. A bailout deal from Korean utility giant Kepco to buy the development faltered over the summer, raising concerns about the cost and risk of the project. Meanwhile the French state-owned nuclear giant EDF, still wounded by the rescue efforts of Areva, heads back to the drawing board with UK Government officials to patch together a new financing framework for follow-up projects to the widely criticised Hinkley Point C nuclear deal. But amid the financial fallout of the West’s attempts at a new nuclear dawn, Russia is quietly building an army of nuclear reactors across the world in an increasingly important power play for a country that has traditionally been powered by fossil fuels. Kirill Komarov, the first deputy chief executive of Russia’s Rosatom, is also the head of the World Nuclear Association. It is a fitting role for man helping to lead Russia’s global nuclear expansion. Rosatom is the leader in constructing new nuclear power plants with eight reactors under construction domestically and 35 at different stages across the globe. Rosatom is also a leader in the export of nuclear fuels, and the second largest reactor operator behind EDF. The majority of these new plants are being built in the developing world.
Telegraph 4th Oct 2018 read more »