Russia Forges Nuclear Alliance With France

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) -- France and Russia have joined forces to promote nuclear power and encourage growing cooperation between their leading nuclear reactor manufacturers.

The wide-ranging agreement comes at a time when the nuclear power sector in Europe is still suffering from the aftershocks of the Japanese nuclear disaster at Fukushima in March this year. Since then, Germany, Switzerland and Italy have abandoned nuclear power as part of the their energy futures, while other countries are still weighing up the pros and cons of nuclear power in the face of renewed public opposition.

A joint declaration on the development of advanced, or Generation III, nuclear reactors has been signed by Russian and French Prime ministers, Vladimir Putin and Francois Fillon, respectively. At the moment France's Areva SA (EPA:CEI) (Paris, France) is building its first third generation nuclear plants in Finland and France using its European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) while Russia is forging ahead with new plants using the latest Russian-designed VVER-1000 and 1200 reactors.

A prime example of Russia's desire to attract more foreign investment and expertise is the Kaliningrad nuclear plant project, also known as the Baltic Nuclear Power Plant, which will be the first Russian nuclear power project to involve foreign companies. Russia wants more French companies to enter the nuclear space.

In September 2009, Russia expressed its interest in offering a stake of up to 49% in the new Kaliningrad facility to companies in nearby Poland, Germany and Lithuania. This was the first time that non-Russian companies were invited to partner on a nuclear project. For additional information, see related September 1, 2009, article - Russia Offers 49% Stake in Kaliningrad Nuclear Power Project to European Neighbours.

In April last year, it looked like Italian energy giant Enel SpA (BIT:ENEL) (Rome) had moved ahead of rivals to become the first foreign firm to own shares in a Russian nuclear power plant. For additional information, see related April 29, 2010, article - Italy's Enel Moves Ahead in Russian Nuclear Partnership Race.

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