Anti-Russian "nuclear alliance." Moscow's sacred cow under attack

The G7 countries have announced a hunt for the Russian sacred cow. "Britain, the United States, Canada, Japan and France have formed an alliance aimed at ousting Russia from the international nuclear energy market" is very important news, and it should not be missed in the information noise.

Have you noticed that no country has imposed sanctions on the Russian nuclear industry until this year, despite the open nuclear terrorism at the Chornobyl and Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plants? The discussions on sanctions against oil and oil products last year moved with difficulty. When we started talking about nuclear energy, Europeans refused to even discuss it in general terms – it was a sacred cow for many.

What has changed? I think that the G7 countries have decided that they will resist Russian influence in the long run. While sanctions against the oil industry could be implemented in a year, the horizon for planning and ousting Russia in the nuclear sphere is years and years.

“The G7 countries have decided that they will resist Russian influence in the long run. While sanctions against the oil industry could be implemented in a year, the horizon for planning and ousting Russia in the nuclear sphere is years and years”

What does this mean for us? Opportunities. The G7 decision means that other companies and other countries will take the place of the Russians. Nuclear power has a future – it is climate neutral and helps to fight both carbon emissions and dependence on Russian gas. Fuel supply, construction and maintenance of reactors will be a booming business for the next few decades.

We have specialists who can replace Russians, we have unique experience in switching from Russian to American fuel, we have experience in building spent fuel storage facilities, and we even have a uranium deposit, although no one has been particularly involved in it recently. It's time to turn all the loud statements against Rosatom into very concrete steps that will bring very concrete benefits in the long run.

The decision nullifies 20 years of Putin's efforts to build up Rosatom's presence in the supply of enriched uranium, construction and maintenance of reactors.

“The decision nullifies 20 years of Putin's efforts to build up Rosatom's presence in the supply of enriched uranium, construction and maintenance of reactors”

For a long time, the world has been trying to move dangerous production away from its citizens, and the Kremlin has been willingly signing contracts - security has never been a concern. Russian supplies provide 20% of the enriched uranium needed in the United States, Sweden receives 57%, and South Korea 31%. At one stage, the United States even facilitated this process through the Megatons to Megawatts program, under which Russia processed nuclear weapons into fuel for American nuclear power plants.

Similarly, many Russians are building reactors around the world. They are building them quickly – they have a long tradition of not paying attention to safety details. VVER reactors are operating in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. 13 reactors are under construction – from Hungary to Bangladesh, from India to Turkey. For years, they have offered discounts and their own financing for construction because they have gained control: only Rosatom can service their reactors, as it has both specialists and spare parts.

It will take some time to oust them from this market. But once the hunt is on, Russians will not be able to stay in the market either. Whether we will find our place in it, depends on the speed of reaction of government officials and Energoatom. Time is running out.

Source

About the author. Lana Zerkal, Ukrainian diplomat, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine for European Integration.

The editorial staff do not always share the opinions expressed by the blog authors.