Russia Will Have Enough Atomic Energy Until 2030

Russian atomic energy is completely provided for with raw materials until, at least, 2030. Deputy Minister for Atomic Energy Mikhail Solonin told Rosbalt at a special round table session of the Upper House of the State Duma on Friday that Russia is currently in 7th place in the world in terms of volume of reserve of atomic energy, which is estimated at 160,000 tonnes. But existing production power will allow us to provide for consumption of Russian energy until 2010. Solonin also said that Russia possesses 'significant scientific potential in the area of atomic energy.'

At the same time, he said that in the Russian atomic industry there exists a number of serious ecological problems. In part, the country has accumulated a significant amount of radioactive waste. According to the Ministry for Atomic Energy, the storage at more than 300 points across Russia is around 500 million cubic meters of liquid and 177 million tonnes of solid radioactive waste.

Solonin said that to decide ecological problems of atomic energy it will be necessary to eliminate the incompletely financed federal program 'Nuclear and radioactive security in Russia,' and at the same time legally regulate the question of citizen responsibility for radiation contamination of the environment.'