OREANDA-NEWS. October 03, 2016. Finnish Energy Day conference took place in Helsinki. It is the traditional annual event held by Tekniikka & Talous ("Technology and Economy"), which is the largest magazine in Finland specializing in economy, industry and energy.

Anton Dedusenko, New projects Director at Rusatom Energy International (REIN), took part in the conference and panel discussion on the role of nuclear energy in low carbon future. He noted that that nuclear energy is a competitive direction, in comparison with traditional generation, which occupies more than 2/3 in the global energy balance, since it practically does not depend on fuel prices. Mr. Dedusenko also said that that the trend in the nuclear energy will continue in the future due to the increasing global demand for electricity and the general trend in the innovative development of the nuclear industry. This is evidenced by the forecasts of leading international organizations and associations (International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), World Nuclear Association (WNA)). Thus, Rosatom is working to extend the nuclear power plants life cycle to at least one hundred years. It will make nuclear power even more competitive in terms of electricity generation costs. Nowadays, such technologies as small modular reactors and nuclear power plants with a closed nuclear fuel cycle are being implemented.

When discussing the issues, related to safety culture at nuclear facilities in Russia and Finland Dedusenko stated: “Safety culture development and improvement has always been a focus of attention at Rosatom. Safety standards are established on different levels, but all of them are based on IAEA safety standards. This organization does not only develop these standards but is also responsible for the monitoring of how regulatory bodies in different countries follow them. In particular, there is an Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS), which is the part of IAEA and carries out monitoring of the regulatory bodies. In 2015, Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) was visited by IRRS and the results showed that STUK is one of the most experienced and reliable regulatory bodies in the world. Of course, STUK was made some recommendations because safety standards are always improving”.

Rosatom representative emphasized up-to-date customer approach to the suppliers of nuclear power plants. Today, apart from the construction of nuclear power plants of various capacities Rosatom offers its customers the development of nuclear infrastructure in the customer country, providing training and requalification of the local labor force, localization of manufacturing in the customer country, fuel supply and NPP maintenance, operation support.

Besides Dedusenko, panel discussion participants were: Director General of the Energy Department of the Ministry of Employment and Economic Affairs Riku Huttunen, Vice President for Nuclear Safety of Technical Research Centre of Finland Satu Helynen and PR Director of Pohjolan Voima Riita Larnimaa. All of them emphasized high importance of the development of nuclear energy in Finland as well as the absolute priority of compliance with safety requirements during the construction and operation of nuclear power plants.