By Richard Johnson Courtesy IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis
MOSCOW (IDN) – When Russia struck a deal with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in October to build a nuclear power plant in the Bolivarian Republic, President Dmitry Medvedev said: "Our intentions are absolutely pure and open: we want our partner Venezuela to have a full range of energy possibilities."
On November 9 the Venezuela's National Assembly ratified the nuclear cooperation agreement with Russia that would see the two countries work on a research reactor and then a nuclear power plant.
In an apparent attempt to allay U.S. apprehensions, Medvedev added: ". . . Even a country with as much oil and gas as Venezuela needs to develop new energy sources. I therefore think that our cooperation is a very good symbol."
U.S. apprehensions -- arising from basic mistrust in Chavez -- were expressed immediately after the deal was signed on October 15, 2010. Media reports quoted U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley saying in Washington that "the United States hoped both Russia and Venezuela would act responsibly" and adhere to IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) rules.
"Comparisons with the Iran nuclear row figured in Crowley's briefing with reporters," stated a news agency report.
"Russia has cultivated close ties with Mr. Chavez's government as part of its efforts to expand its global clout and counter U.S. influence in Latin America," said another report. It added: "Moscow aims to expand its nuclear partnerships with its international partners. Russia is working in Iran on a nuclear power plant and landed new nuclear deals with Ankara and Beijing. More deals are in the works in India and the Czech Republic."
Celebrating November 9 ratification, the Venezuelan Ministry of Communication and Information said a large nuclear reactor could displace some 15 million barrels of oil from electricity generation with an export value of 1 billion U.S. dollars.
According to the London-based World Nuclear News (WNN), producing 1200 MWe, a pressurized water reactor from Russia would generate up to about 10 TWh per year. This tallies with the latest IAEA data which shows Venezuela used oil to generate 13.11 TWh of electricity in 2007 -- about 11% of its total, notes WNN.
"Although nuclear power plants usually operate for constant baseload supply and oil is usually used flexibly to meet peak demand, it is clear that nuclear power could liberate the majority of that oil for export while reducing carbon emissions at the same time," says WNN.
Other countries plan to use nuclear power in the same way and enable more exports of fossil fuels. Russia has been expanding its nuclear and hydro generation base in order to export more gas, while producers in the Middle East like the UAE and Iran would also prefer to export oil and gas rather than use them for electricity, the London-based agency adds.
However, nuclear energy is not entirely new to Venezuela. The Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones CientÃficas, IVIC) operated a 3 MWt research reactor from 1960 to 1994 to produce radioisotopes for industry, medicine and agriculture. Currently the institute has a gamma ray facility to sterilize disposable surgical supplies, packaging, medicine and even some dry foods, but this is powered by imported cobalt-60.
According to the WNN, the 19-article cooperation agreement with Russia sees the first step to renewing Venezuela's nuclear development as personnel training, including the application of International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards. Other key developments will be radiation safety, environmental protection, emergency response and the expansion of the proper regulatory environment to maintain those capabilities.
"There are people trained in this country, but we need more staff and a new generation to join the project and first it is important to know what we need," said Angel Viloria, head of IVIC. "Each of the estimated developments in this program has a portion where we define what type of staff are required and in what areas."
Success in developing the research reactor facility is a pre-requisite to the installation of nuclear power generation capacity. Rosatom and AtomStroyExport of Russia will therefore work towards these aims with IVIC and the National Electricity Corporation (Corpolec).
"We will probably take more than ten years to complete the nuclear technology program, for we are surely talking about more than one reactor," said Viloria, noting that many elements in cooperation nevertheless remain undecided. "What has been signed with the Russians are instruments through which only some agreements have been established."
The Russian state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, said agreements provide for the turn-key construction of a twin reactor nuclear power plant based on VVER-1200 pressurized water reactors as well as a research reactor for medical and industrial isotopes. The countries will also work on supporting infrastructure necessary for "the transition to the active phase of construction."
VVER is the Soviet (and now, Russian Federation) designation for light water pressurized reactor. In western countries, the PWR is used as the acronym.
Russia and Venezuela have been discussing nuclear energy for about eight years. Iran is another country with links to Venezuela's nuclear development through geophysical surveys for uranium. Commenting, Chavez said: "We have not yet signed a single final agreement, but we are moving in that direction."
But he recalled that a research reactor had run in Venezuela from 1960 to 1994. "Naturally, it was an enormous contribution not only to Venezuelan economy," he said, "but also that of its neighbouring nations, with an eye toward the future." (IDN-InDepthNews/11.11.2010)
