The Day Russia and China Will Control the World's Nuclear Power Plants

The following is an article by Ryosuke Endo (Deputy Director-General, Foreign Correspondence Division and Editorial Writer) that appeared in the Sankei Shimbun on March 24 under the title "The Day Russia and China Will Control the World's Nuclear Power Plants.
Since the accident at TEPCO's Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, Japan has a growing tendency to view nuclear power plants as if they were an absolute evil.
In Japan, the restart of nuclear power plants, let alone the construction or expansion of new plants, has been slow. The export strategy of nuclear power plants has come to a standstill after Hitachi, Ltd. withdrew from nuclear power plants' construction in the U.K. last year.　
During this period, Russia and China have rapidly increased their presence as major nuclear powers.
According to a summary by the Japan Atomic Energy Industries Association, of the 58 nuclear power plants that began transmitting electricity worldwide between 2001 and 2007, 44 were built in China and 44 in Russia, accounting for about 75%.　
It built most reactors in the two countries, but Russia also operated five reactors outside the country between 2011 and 2012.　
Russia is now the dominant player in the global nuclear power export market.
According to the Norwegian environmental group Verona, Russia has eight units under construction in India, Turkey, Iran, Bangladesh, and Belarus.
Besides, 18 units in nine countries, including Finland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Egypt, have been ordered or are being ordered.　　
The former Soviet Union's 1986 nuclear accident at Chernobyl has given Russian nuclear power plants a dangerous image.
However, today Russia is building pressurized water reactors, which are different from those used at Chernobyl, and are much safer.　
While manufacturers in Japan, the U.S., and Europe have been sunk, including the bankruptcy of Westinghouse Electric (W.H.) in the U.S., Russia has launched a sales offensive outside Japan its reactors are safer than those at Fukushima, according to a senior official.　
Russia's strength lies in the fact that Rosatom, a huge state-run company with a monopoly on the nuclear power sector, is ready to take on the entire process of building nuclear power plants, training personnel to operate them, supplying uranium fuel, maintaining them, and collecting spent fuel.
This package of contracts is particularly attractive to developing countries.　
Russia will provide a massive loan for the plant's construction cost is another reason why Russian-made plants are chosen.
In the Egyptian contract case, Russia is expected to finance 85% of the construction cost, or $25 billion.
In the Akkuyu nuclear power plant under construction in Turkey, Russia will pay for its construction and will recoup the expenditure through electricity income after the plant is operational.　
Such a sales offensive is inextricably linked to the Putin administration's political agenda to gain influence in the other country.
Once a nuclear power plant is built, Russia will continue to be responsible for the supply of uranium fuel and maintenance work and hold the other country's power source for decades.
The country that bought the nuclear power plant cannot simply shut it down because it doesn't like Russia, and it has to repay its debt.　
In this sense, there are many implications of Russia's efforts to sell nuclear power to Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and African countries.　
The move toward virtually zero emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases has become a trend among major countries and is called the "first year of decarbonization.
While people tend to focus on renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power, we should not forget that nuclear power is a realistic way to achieve both decarbonization and a stable and massive electricity supply.　
Nuclear technology is not something that it can acquire overnight.
I hope that when the time comes for Japan to build new nuclear power plants, it will not be buying them from Russia or China.