Russia bids for construction of 1st nuclear plant in Saudi Arabia

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russia's Rosatom is bidding for the construction of the first nuclear power plant in Saudi Arabia, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Tuesday.

Other projects, including the construction of one more nuclear power plant in Türkiye, are also being discussed, Novak said in an article for Energy Policy magazine.

Russia is also planning to increase by 25% the share of nuclear energy until 2040, he said.

The deputy prime minister added that Russia may also increase the export of its nuclear energy as its demand is growing due to the global energy crisis.

The slowdown in the development of nuclear energy in the last decade was largely due to the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan in 2011, he said.

"However, the Japanese experience has been seriously studied and taken into account at the world level, relevant conclusions have been drawn, necessary decisions have been made for the possibility of further existence and development of the industry. As a result, there has been significant progress in technology," Novak said.

Novak also listed the advantages of nuclear energy: it is cheaper, less fuel produces more energy and has a low volume of CO2 emissions, which fully meets the current climate agenda.

"I would like to emphasize that against the background of the energy crisis and the efforts of the international community to combat climate change, nuclear energy is becoming an increasingly promising source of energy," he said.