The Economist

(Steven Felgate) #1

24 The EconomistAugust 4th 2018


For daily analysis and debate on Europe visit
Economist.com/europe

1

I

N MARCH 2011 a tsunami engulfed the
Fukushima power plant in Japan ulti-
mately causing a meltdown. The worst nu-
clear disaster since Chernobyl it was a dev-
astating blow to an industry that has been
in the doldrums since the 1980s. Nuclear
plants closed around the world. The
amount of electricity generated by nuclear
power plunged 11% in two years and has
not recovered since. Within this declining
industry one countrynow dominates the
market for design and export of nuclear
plants: Russia.
Flat domestic demand for electricity
has curtailed construction of new plants at
home so Rosatom Russia’sstate-owned
nuclear-power company has been flog-
ging its wares abroad. It is focused on what
Stephan Solzhenitsyn a nuclear-energy
analyst with McKinsey calls the “great
grand middle”: countries that are close al-
lies of neither the United States nor Russia.
In April Russia started building Turkey’s
first nuclear plant worth $20bn. Its first re-
actor is due for completion in 2023. Rosa-
tom says it has 33 new plants on its order
book worth some $130bn. A dozen are un-
der construction including in Bangladesh
India and Hungary.
Energy exports have long been a pillar
of Russian foreign policy typically in the
form of its abundant oil and gas supplies.
Exporting nuclear plants is trickier but in

over a large portion of a country’s electric-
ity-generation capacity. In theory Russia
might threaten to raise the price of ura-
nium or simply to close a reactor operated
by Rosatom. The relationship between ex-
porter and customer is particularly close in
a nuclear plant’s early years when local
employees are still being trained and the
exporting country is directly involved in
the plant’s operation. The threat is espe-
cially potent in countries where a new nuc-
lear plant represents a significant share of
the electricity supply. Rooppur the Rus-
sian-built nuclear-power station in Bangla-
desh for instance will provide 2400
megawatts accounting for 15% of total gen-
eration capacity.
Vulnerable countries have long grown
accustomed to Russia’s habit ofwielding
energy as a geopolitical weapon. Ultima-
tums over gas supplies were once a regular
feature of eastern European winters but

some ways a better bet says Mr Solzhenit-
syn. Reactor sales bring in more money
than fossil fuels as they are generally ac-
companied by a suite of services including
provision of nuclear fuel training for engi-
neers and regulatory consulting. Each
plant is a multi-billion-dollar project unaf-
fected by swings in commodity prices and
locks customers into decades-long rela-
tionships with Russia.
Once completed the plantsoffer an ob-
vious diplomatic lever in the form of sway

Russia and nuclear power

Atoms for peace


SOCHI
The world’s worrying reliance on Russian nuclear technology

Europe


Also in this section
25 Turkey’s hostages
26 Filthy Ukrainian politics
26 Biochips in Swedes
27 Charlemagne: Cheer up Deutschland

Hinkley Point
Britain

Rooppur
Bangladesh

Barakah
UAE

Sanmen
China

Ostrovets
Belarus

HanhikiviFinland

Paks
Hungary
Akkuyy
Turkey

Kovvada
India
Kudankulam
India

Atucha
Argentina

Thyspunt
South Africa

RUSSIA

New nuclear-
reactor exports
Under construction
or planned
July 2018

Source: World
Nuclear Association

Russia
China
South Korea
France
United States
Free download pdf