OREANDA-NEWS. December 23, 2008. Established in the summer 2007, Atomenergprom OJSC is now summing up the results of its first year. The company has been developing against the background of the large-scale reformation of the nuclear sector. The holding is supposed to consolidate the efforts of all civilian nuclear companies in order to effectively implement the large-scale NPP construction program and to promote Russian high technologies on the international market.

In Jan-Sept 2008 the companies of Atomenergoprom earned as much as 315bln RUR.

Presently, we are preparing for the practical implementation of our nuclear development program. The general scheme for the allocation of power facilities till 2020 says that in 2015 nuclear power plants should produce as much as 234.4bln KWh. The consolidation of corporate resources has helped us to give a good start our NPP construction program. Presently, no other company in the world is building as many nuclear reactors as Atomenergoprom: in Russia alone we are building seven units.

Due to the measures to enhance capacity and to modernize equipment, this year our NPPs have exceeded the annual electricity production plan – 161.4bln KWh.

The emergence of Atomenergoprom, as the world’s fourth biggest player, has allowed us to enter foreign markets with highly competitive products and a wide range of services.

TVEL’s contracts for complex fuel supply to Slovak NPPs have strengthened our positions on the Eastern and Central European market. Presently, we are negotiating a contract for the supply of Russian fuel to no less than 12 existing nuclear reactors of Ukraine till 2020. The conclusion of this contract will open up new prospects for long-term cooperation and active integration of the nuclear industries of Russia and Ukraine.

The Sept 2008 decision of the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group has opened wide opportunities for Russian-Indian cooperation in the field of peaceful use of nuclear energy. Presently, India has the world’s second biggest demand for new power plants and we have already agreed that no less than four nuclear reactors will be built by Russia in India. By the end of this year we are planning to sign contracts for delivery of 2,000 tons of uranium pellets for Indian NPPs.

We are actively developing our cooperation with China. In Oct 2008 we signed contracts for the construction of new units of the gas centrifuge plant and a long-term contract for the supply of enriched uranium. The first lot of gas centrifuge equipment is ready for dispatch.

The consolidation of the world’s highest uranium enrichment capacities with the most advanced gas centrifugal technologies has helped Atomenergoprom to gain as much as 40% of the world’s uranium enrichment market. In 2008 the export of uranium products and enrichment services will amount to \\$3bln – 30% more than in 2007. The exclusive supplier of uranium enrichment services, Techsnabexport, has done all it was supposed to do in 2008 under the HEU-LEU agreement.

The mineral resource base is also actively developing. Today, Atomredmetzoloto has the world’s second biggest uranium reserves and fifth biggest uranium output. We are planning to increase uranium production to 15,000 tons by 2020 to be able to fully meet the needs of the growing nuclear industry. In 2008 our uranium mining companies are expected to produce 3,541 tons of uranium – 4% more than in 2007. With the output of Kazakhstan-based Zarechnoye JV inclusive, we will mine as much as 3,841 tons.

In order to increase uranium production, we need to develop new deposits and to intensify prospecting activities. In 2008 we drafted projects for prospecting Elkon, Olovskoye, Gornoye deposits in Russia and have established joint ventures for uranium mining in Armenia, Namibia and Canada.

We are also modernizing the mining equipment of Priargun Mining Chemical Combine and enlarging in-situ leaching production at Dalur and Khiagda.

All of our companies are modernizing their equipment and introducing new technologies. This year Chepetsk Mechanical Plant has completed the reconstruction of the 2nd and 3rd launch complexes for zirconium production on the basis of chlorine technology.

New technologies in the field of nuclear fuel cycle are supposed to enhance the competitiveness of Russian products and services and to enlarge Russia’s presence on foreign markets. We have launched programs to introduce high-duty five-year fuel cycle for second-generation fuel at Bohunice, Mochovce, Dukovany, Paks and Loviisa NPPs. In 2008 we have issued a pilot lot of new generation gas centrifuges and have launched a superconductor production at Chepetsk Mechanical Plant.

We have drafted technical documentation on TVSA PLUS and TVS 2M nuclear fuel and have tested them at TVS mock-up for NPP-2006 project.

Atomenergomash OJSC has bought controlling stake in Ganz Energetika (Hungary). Ganz Energetika will serve as a basis for a Russian-Hungarian JV that will design, manufacture and supply refueling equipment for NPPs.

We are planning to actively consolidate investment resources in order to more effectively implement our projects.

Among other important goals are to reduce corporate costs, to build economically efficient procurement system, to enhance the efficiency of investments.

In 2008 Atomenergoprom has been given shares of 72 JSCs and 3 non-governmental educational institutions. 41 of the 55 federal state unitary enterprises incorporated into Atomenergoprom have already been reorganized into open joint stock companies.

Quite recently, Atomenergoprom set up a Separation-Sublimation Complex company. Earlier, the holding established Russian Gas Centrifuge center for consolidating the capacities for engineering and manufacturing gas centrifuges for separation plants. Khipromengineering has been set to develop PAN and hydrocarbon fiber production technologies.

Atomenergoprom is introducing a unified information system. This project is supposed to enhance the efficiency of the management system and to introduce advanced methods of management of business and production processes based on modern information technologies.

With the establishment of Atomenergoprom, the national nuclear industry has turned from an absolutely closed zone into a sector open to active cooperation for the sake of effective promotion of Russian technologies on foreign markets and implementation of own NPP construction program.

We are actively working to optimize and improve our activities. And even though our national tradition says that by New Year one must finish all the businesses he has undertaken in the past year, Atomenergopprom is just starting most of its projects and, judging from their rate, we can say that we will see their results very soon.