Rosatom is completely under state control, and while its emphasis with some projects has been geared towards powering hard to reach Russian territories, it has also undertaken numerous international projects. This includes the development of nuclear power plants in China, Turkey and Iran, highlighting the growing presence of Russian energy throughout the world. And now, with some projects already under way in countries like Hungary and Finland, its Vice President of Marketing and Business Development Overseas, Anton Moskvin, has told Express.co.uk that Europe is a future target for the company.
He said: “I must say Europe is very interesting for us with prospective small modular reactors market development, we know that several countries are interested. The UK has great interest in the small modular reactors.”
Small modular reactors are nuclear fission reactors which are smaller than conventional reactors.
Mr Moskvin continued: “We have seen interest in different countries in central Europe and northern Europe – we have spoken to several experts there, hopefully it will move to the decision makers very soon.
“We can have some straightforward discussions about the implementation of those projects, if we talk about Europe as a whole, we think our reactors are fitting the logic in which energy systems operate there.”
Mr Moskvin also described the UK as “global leaders” in the nuclear market.
He added: “First of all the UK nuclear sector is historically among the global leaders and we think UK’s commitment to the small nuclear power is really important technology for the global market.
“In our understanding, nuclear is vital to achieve net zero by 2050, and we share this understanding. It’s really important to us that developed countries unite forces.
“The UK is an interesting market, we think all of the countries which are using nuclear power plants in their energy system will put more investment into development.”
However, some in the EU have expressed concern over any plans for the Russian nuclear giant, fearing that the country could use its business to wield political influence.
In 2014, President Putin agreed a deal worth £8.5billion with Hungary President Viktor Orban, a deal which has seen the two leaders meet regularly since.
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A Rosatom spokesman told Express.co.uk: “We firmly believe that nuclear energy is absolutely vital to tackling climate change and should remain partitioned off from the vicissitudes of geopolitics. A nuclear plant is a century-long project. Governments, politicians and alliances come and go but people need clean electricity, heat and fresh water every day.
“There hasn’t been a single precedent in the nuclear industry’s 60-year history, which involved the use, or attempt to use, by Rosatom or any other vendor or country, nuclear energy projects as a tool for political influence. On the contrary, nuclear has a great track-record for boosting energy security as it reduces dependency on import and ensures the stability of electricity prices.
“If there is political sensitivity, which is sometimes unavoidable in the world where divisions present themselves as starkly as they do today, we do our best to address all related concerns. We develop and agree a scheme of ownership and finance that would completely exclude any reasonable risk of the host country’s vulnerability or dependency.
“Our projects generate billions of euros in revenue for EU firms and create thousands of jobs in Europe. Although there are no new build projects in the UK in our pipeline, we are always open to cooperation with British firms in third countries as our supply chain partners or co-investors. We also discuss with UK companies potential cooperation on projects in non-nuclear businesses, such as wind power, hydrogen, batteries and so on.”