Rosatom chief calls on West to stop speculating about sanctions against Russia's nuclear sector

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - The director general of the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) called on Western countries Tuesday to stop speculating about sanctions against Russia’s nuclear sector, stressing that such calls increase prices for nuclear fuel for citizens of their own countries.

Ordinary taxpayers and energy consumers suffer from the "short-sighted actions" of their politicians and are forced to pay for them, Alexey Likhachev said in an interview with the Russian state news agency TASS.

"The US itself has announced plans to close access to its market for our products in a few years. Similar initiatives are being voiced in the EU. Market prices are moving up based on expectations of a negative scenario. As a result, energy companies from the US and the EU, to ensure the current level of generation and for future needs, are forced to buy uranium products at a higher price on the market," he emphasized.

As a result, politicians' actions aimed at earning political capital on the "loud anti-Russian topic" and inflicting damage on Russia in the end violate the interests of their citizens, he noted.

Likhachev agreed with International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi’s assessment that sanctions against Russian nuclear technologies "will bring the nuclear industry to a standstill in many countries."

"When market mechanisms are in place, companies choose the most attractive and affordable product. This allows them to control their costs. If artificial restrictions are introduced in the market, which has been formed for years and decades, this significantly worsens the situation primarily for consumers of the product," he said.

Referring to remarks by Grossi on the dependence of Western countries on Russian nuclear fuel, Likhachev said that Rosatom has never used its products as a "tool of blackmail."

"For Rosatom, the safety of nuclear energy has always been, is and will be a priority. We, like no one else, understand how important a role in the life cycle of nuclear generation is played by the continuity of supplies of nuclear fuel or components for its manufacture," he said.

He stressed that there are no reasons to impose sanctions against Russia’s nuclear sector, saying such pressure reflects "the inability of other players to compete fairly with Rosatom."

Likhachev pointed out that the development of new atomic fuel production facilities will take years and will demand investments, which in the end will increase the price of the fuel again.

"At the same time, based on sound market logic, additional investments are completely unnecessary for the market, since Russian suppliers are ready to continue to supply uranium products to Western nuclear power plant operators at reasonable prices.

"In summary, I would like to emphasize that since the market for uranium products and nuclear fuel has already developed as a global one, attempts to impose sanctions to harm the development of Russian suppliers are not only pointless but will eventually affect the authors of such initiatives themselves," he added.