Publications
Partners
Moscow - The life cycle of modern nuclear reactors is 80 to 100 years. This is longer than human lives and political careers, so it requires a lot of trust, said Sergei Kirienko, chief executive of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom.
Kirienko on Monday signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with Nigeria, which will help Africa's largest economy move towards a more energy-secure country.
The agreement includes more training opportunities for Nigerian students in nuclear technology, and also forms the base for the development of a research reactor in Nigeria to work on radio-isotope production for medical purposes.
Erepano Osaisai, general director of the Nigerian Commission for Nuclear Energy, said Nigeria wants to use nuclear technology not only for electricity production but also for applications in the medical and agricultural fields.
Don't reinvent the wheel
In a separate panel discussion at the AtomExpo conference being held this week in Moscow, Kirienko said there is no need for countries just starting out with nuclear power to try to reinvent the wheel. Countries with experience in nuclear like France, Finland and Russia have the responsibility to use their own unique experiences to help other countries.
Pekka Lundmark, chief executive of Finnish utility company Fortum Corporation, concurred and said simpler designs and passive safety features are needed. "Sometimes complexity doesn't add to safety, only to cost," he said.
Fortum Corporation runs 10 nuclear reactors and is building two new ones. Finland is not phasing out nuclear, but has continuously improved its nuclear facilities so that its four reactors have always come out tops in international grading systems.
Finland is also the only country in the world so far to have started building a final disposal site for high level nuclear waste. The facility is 450 metres underground in bedrock, and is expected to receive its first load of nuclear waste in the first half of the 2020s.
Up to 25% of Finland's power comes from nuclear.
Lundmark conceded the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011 necessitated more stringent safety requirements at nuclear plants, leading to more complex designs. But this - as well as extra cumbersome taxes and regulations imposed by the European Union on nuclear nations - implies that nuclear can fall behind in cost competitiveness, compared to renewable energy.
Countries should work towards standardised designs and a fair and transparent operating environment to save costs.
* Francois Williams is a guest of Rosatom in Moscow.
