How does Russia maintain its leadership?
Author: Naeem Asghari, analyst, especially for “Sangar”
Russia has shown again the world community that it does not intend to give up its leading position in the development of peaceful nuclear energy.
At the end of March 2024, the two-day International Forum ATOMEXPO-2024 was held in Sochi, with the support of the State Corporation Rosatom. This was the 13th international event, bringing together government officials, the largest enterprises in the global nuclear industry, as well as leading international experts.
The main issue of the forum was nuclear energy technologies of the new fourth generation.
The fourth generation refers to fast neutron reactors with a metal coolant. It is a closed nuclear fuel cycle, which involves the extraction of plutonium from spent nuclear fuel and the production of new fuel for fast reactors. During the fuel cycle, the same amount of plutonium is produced as burned, so the cycle can be repeated almost infinitely - this is essentially a perpetual motion machine. Fourth generation technologies make it possible to isolate the most harmful and dangerous component of spent fuel, so-called minor actinides, and burn them in fast reactors. This significantly reduces the long-term risk associated with storing radioactive waste. And the most important is that the fourth generation guarantees absolute impossibility of radiation disasters, like the tragedy that occurred at the Japanese Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant.
Attempts of the West to isolate Russia have failed this time as about 4.5 thousand delegates from 75 countries attended the event. Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Iraq took part in the forum for the first time.
Rearising the importance and prospects of cooperation in the field of peaceful atom use, the forum was attended by the Minister of External Economic Relations and Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Peter Szijjártó, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey, Alparslan Bajraktar, President of the World Nuclear Association (WNA, World Nuclear Association) Sama Bilbao y León, Minister Energy of the Republic of Belarus Viktor Karankevich, Minister of Health of the Republic of Serbia Danica Gruicic, Chairman of the Board and CEO of DP World Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group CEO of the South African Atomic Energy Corporation Loiso Tyabashe.
One of the new partners is Burkina Faso. During bilateral exchanges, they signed a roadmap to expand cooperation in the field of peaceful nuclear energy. The document provides concrete steps to develop human resources and nuclear infrastructure in Burkina Faso, and also aimed at creating a positive public opinion about nuclear energy.
The forum sessions concentrated on issues of climate change, the use of alternative energy sources (including nuclear energy), and the development of projects in nuclear medicine. In particular, Rosatom entered into an agreement with Nicaragua to develop a roadmap for the project of building a Nuclear Medicine Center. New Center will specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of socially significant diseases, including oncology. The agreement was signed by the heads of Rosatom Health Technologies and the Department of Health of the Republic of Nicaragua. A ceremony of signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Chinese partners - China Isotope & Radiation Corporation and CNNC Medical Industry Co., Ltd. also was held during the forum.
Another significant event was an agreement between the wind energy division of the Rosatom State Corporation and the Ministry of Energy of the Kyrgyz Republic to implement an investment project. It includes the development of capacities for energy production with the wind.
The motto of the forum: “Clean energy. Creating the future together,” showed the world community Russia’s commitment to the so-called “green agenda”. The same agenda previously supported by European countries is now left abandoned due to negative processes in their economies in view of Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
