They are in safe hands with Putin ?!

Russia to boost uranium reserves, atomic energy as demand soars16 Mar 2007


bbj.hu
Russia, the world's biggest oil and natural gas producer, will boost atomic power output and increase uranium reserves by a quarter as electricity demand grows faster than generation, threatening to curb a nine-year economic boom.
„The need to diversify our fuel-energy balance is obvious,” Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said today in Moscow. „In the foreseeable future, Russia will take third place in the world in terms of uranium resources, which will be about 1 million tons.” Russia plans to spend 674 billion rubles ($26 billion) in the next eight years to develop its nuclear industry, he said. The former Soviet state now has about 800,000 tons of uranium resources, lagging behind Australia and its 1.14 million tons and Kazakhstan, which has 1.13 million tons.
Russia is turning to atomic energy amid concerns about the nation's capacity to meet export commitments for oil and gas. Concern about pollution and the potential scarcity of oil and gas is spurring international demand for nuclear power. Cameco Corp., the world's biggest nuclear power producer, agreed this month with Russia's state-owned nuclear trader to become the first foreign miner to explore for uranium in the country after prices of the radioactive metal soared. The spot price for uranium, from which fuel for nuclear power plants is made, advanced to $85 a pound earlier this month, 18% higher than at the start of the year, according to industry publication Metal Bulletin. The price has surged in part on speculation by investors that there may not be enough of the metal to fuel the next generation of nuclear reactors.
Russia is now planning to get 30% of its energy from nuclear power by 2030, almost double the current proportion. The country's nuclear industry gets a third of its revenue from exporting nuclear fuel services, which includes enrichment of uranium and construction of power plants. Building power plants abroad allows Russia „to gain global influence and authority,” as well as bringing in cash, Ivanov said. Russia will soon register OAO Atomenergoprom, a holding company that will to take charge of all of Russia's civilian nuclear industry, Ivanov said today. All of Atomenergoprom's shares will belong to the government and all its transactions will be subject to presidential decree, he said. (Bloomberg)