Russia Invites India to Participate in Uranium Enrichment Project

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Russia recently extended an invitation to India to participate in a uranium enrichment program that will help the latter secure nuclear energy supplies. Russia is setting up the International Uranium Enrichment Centre (IUEC) to produce low-enriched uranium in Angarsk in Eastern Siberia under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (Vienna, Austria).

India has been invited to invest in the IUEC in lieu of making payments to Russia for the supply of nuclear fuel to existing and upcoming nuclear power plants. Russia is currently supplying nuclear fuel to the six light-water nuclear reactors at the upcoming power plant in Koodankulam in the Tirunelveli-Kattabomman district of Tamil Nadu. TVEL (Moscow, Russia), a nuclear fuel company and a subsidiary of state-owned Atomenergoprom (Moscow), has also agreed to provide fuel for existing indigenous pressurized heavy water reactors under a bilateral agreement.

The offer was made during an Indian delegation's visit to Russia for an investment summit on April 9. India's participation in the IUEC program would ensure a steady and reliable supply of nuclear fuel in the future, ensuring continuous operation of the country's nuclear power plants. The delegation headed by Anil Kakodkar, Chairman of the Committee for Nuclear Energy and head of the Atomic Energy Commission, toured TVEL's JSC Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant in Novosibirsk, Russia, and the JSC Angarsk Electrolysis and Chemical Plant in Angarsk, Russia, which will house the IUEC.

Russia created the IUEC in September 2007 as a joint venture between OJSC Tekhsnabexport (Moscow) and Kazatomprom (Almaty, Kazakhstan) with the aim of providing assured supplies of nuclear fuel to participant states on a non-discriminatory basis. Russia has since invited foreign participation while planning to retain a 51% stake in IUEC. The state-owned Kazatomprom and Armenia's NPP Medzamor each have a 10% stake in IUEC. Ukraine signed an initial agreement with Russia in June 2007 for a stake of 10% in IUEC but disagreements within the government has prevented it from making any progress. Invitations have also been extended to other neighboring countries that include Uzbekistan, Mongolia, Belarus, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The low-enriched uranium produced at IUEC can only be used as a fuel and not for military purposes.

Larsen & Toubro Limited (BSE:500510) (Mumbai), one of India's leading engineering and construction companies, recently signed an agreement with Atomstroyexport (Moscow), a major Russian nuclear power equipment and services provider, to design and build light-water Vodo-Vodyanoi Energetichesky Reactors (VVER) in India. According to the agreement, the companies will collaborate to develop nuclear reactors including the four units for the Koodankulam project in Tamil Nadu and any new projects using Russian pressurized water reactors. The companies will leverage each other's expertise for supplying equipment, electrical components, and instrumentation products required to set up a VVER plant.

India recently signed similar agreements with Westinghouse Electric Company LLC (Monroeville, Pennsylvania) and Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) (Mississauga, Ontario) to build 1,000-megawatt (MW) nuclear power plants. Other Indian firms such as NTPC Limited (BSE:532555) (New Delhi) and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BSE:500103) (New Delhi) are also eyeing joint ventures with leading multinational equipment majors such as General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) (Fairfield, Connecticut) and Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) (Munich) to foray into the nuclear power market.

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