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Rosatom set for building 40 nuclear power units abroad

NOVO-OGARYOVO, January 9 (Itar-Tass) - The Rosatom State Corporation’s package of foreign contracts now includes 20 generating units, and about 40 more are under consideration, the head of Rosatom, Sergey Kirienko, told President Vladimir Putin at a meeting on Thursday.

“Since the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster we have doubled the number of orders, whereas the market as a whole sank somewhat ,” Kirienko said. He also expressed the hope at least “half of these forty projects will reach the contract stage”.

Kirienko placed a special emphasis on the contracts with China and India. Russian specialists in China have already constructed two units of the Tianwan nuclear power station, and Chinese partners, having checked its performance, decided to continue cooperation.

“This is an important decision for us, as China constructs its own nuclear power units, and has the U.S. and French specialists working there. Competition is tough,” Kirienko said.

As for the new units of the Kudankulam power plant, Kirienko said the issue of responsibility for potential civil damages was now in the final stages of discussion inside the Indian government. India “confirmed compliance with the road map” signed during President Putin’s latest visit to India.

The project with Vietnam was coming up, with contracts signed for four units at one facility. “Vietnamese partners are willing to increase the number of facilities,” Kirienko said.

Lately, preparations were nearing completion in Turkey: “The main equipment is now being ordered, licensing procedures were finished in 2013, engineering work was completed late December, and the project is referred to the supervision authorities.”

Summing up the results of 2013, Kirienko said Rosarom had commissioned the nuclear power plant Bushehr, Iran, the first reactor at Kudankulam, and made first concrete pouring at the site of the third and fourth units of Tianwan and at the main facility of Ostrovetskaya power plant in Belarus.

Infrastructure is now being prepared for a nuclear power plant in Jordan. Russia won the Jordanian project in an international competition.