Moscow, 13 November: Russian Atomic Energy Minister Aleksandr Rumyantsev has
warned that in case of foul competition in the world market for spent nuclear fuel, Russia will be taking it at "dumping prices".
Interviewed by the Itogi magazine, Rumyantsev said foreign competitors were conducting backstage talks with Russia's customary partners.
"Don't give spent nuclear fuel to the Russians, we shall take it from you at
much lower prices. This is what these talks are all about," Rumyantsev said.
He estimates the global market for spent nuclear fuel at 200,000 tonnes a year, including 80 per cent of fuel made in the United States, from US uranium, or used at US-built nuclear power plants. Russia, Rumyantsev said, can contest up to 10 per cent of the market - about 20,000 tonnes, at an average price of 1,000 dollars per kilogram.
"Naturally, countries that build nuclear power plants - such as France and the United States - would like to knock Russia out as a strong competitor, the more so since Russian nuclear power plants cost 30 per cent less than their foreign equivalents, but are not inferior to them in quality."
Asked about the use of the income generated by the import of spent nuclear fuel Rumyantsev recalled the contract with Bulgaria.
"Twenty five per cent of the funds goes to the Krasnoyarsk Territory to finance solutions to environmental problems, and the remaining 75 per cent makes it possible to properly store spent nuclear fuel and to order the construction of advanced, dry storage facilities," he said.