MOSCOW, November 3 (RIA Novosti) - A law allowing the creation of a unified state company to control Russia's nuclear power sector could be adopted by the lower house of parliament by the end of the year, the head of the State Duma's subcommittee on atomic energy said Friday.
"If there are no discrepancies in terms of amendments to the law, it could be adopted by the State Duma by the end of the year," Viktor Opekunov said.
He said the Duma's energy and transport committee had until November 15 to propose amendments to the law.
Opekunov said the new corporation, which will be named Atomprom, will be 100% state-owned, and its nuclear power facilities will be guarded by Interior Ministry troops.
Russia's reserves of coal and natural gas could be depleted in 50 years. But with around 8% of the world's uranium output, Russia is planning to mine 60-70% of its uranium needs by 2015, with the remainder coming from joint ventures in former Soviet republics, particularly Kazakhstan, which holds 25-30% of the world's uranium reserves.
In mid-September, Russia's nuclear chief Sergei Kiriyenko said nuclear energy must replace the share of natural gas in Russia's energy balance.
"There is no alternative to the development of nuclear power in Russia, which must replace power generated using natural gas," he said.
On September 25, Kiriyenko said a vertically integrated company, Atomprom, will be formed to comprise all of the country's civilian nuclear industry enterprises as part of a move to divide the industry into military and civilian branches.
He said up to 90% of the profit in Russia's nuclear sector comes from nuclear energy exports, which is why the company will be set up to compete fully with the world leaders on the global market.
"Two-thirds of the companies in the nuclear energy industry are joint stock companies, and therefore Atomprom will have to be based on a joint stock scheme," Kiriyenko said.
Earlier in September, he said the revival of the nuclear sector in Russia was prompted by rising energy consumption, a lack of new energy sources in the foreseeable future, and unjustified hopes that energy-saving technologies can solve energy deficits.
Russia currently has 10 operational nuclear power plants with 31 reactors, but Kiriyenko said Russia will need another 300 gigawatts from new plants to cover a projected energy deficit in the next 30 years.
Kiriyenko highlighted several key areas in the development of the nuclear industry -- the division of the industry into military and civilian branches, budget spending on the construction of nuclear power plants to ensure a two gigawatt annual increase, the adoption of a nuclear and radiation security program, the establishment of a single mining company, international centers for nuclear cycle services, the development of fast-neutron reactors and serial construction of new power units.
In October, Russia and Kazakhstan established their first joint venture to enrich uranium in Angarsk, near Irkutsk, about 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles) east of Moscow.
The city "has always been connected with the nuclear sector's civilian side. The enterprise in Angarsk can be put under [the UN's] IAEA control, and it has additional reserve capacities," Kiriyenko said then.
