March 13, 2023 – Algeria (Algeria) – ROSATOM and the Algerian Atomic Energy Commission (COMENA) jointly organized a workshop on nuclear energy solutions for key stakeholders and companies in the Algerian energy market. This is the first event organized by the two parties taking place at the COMENA headquarters.
Abdelhamid Mellah, COMENA commissioner, and Boris Arseev, ROSATOM’s Deputy Director for Development and International Business – Director for International Business, opened the workshop with keynote speeches.
In his speech, Boris Arseev noted: “We highly appreciate the trust-based nature of the partnership built between our countries for many years. And we are honoured with the interest in our technologies shown by the Algerian friends. NPP implementation project is a comprehensive task. How successful you are in solving it majorly depends on the choice of vendor. Rosatom is proud of being both the pioneer and the leader of the nuclear industry. Our foreign portfolio of orders includes 34 reactors in 11 countries. We are leaders in the NPPs construction with unprecedented 88%-share of the NPP construction market. We commissioned 15 reactors over past 17 years and were the first ones who launched reactors of 3+ generation. Our experience covers any single stage of the nuclear project: from engineering and fuel supplies to service, spent nuclear fuel reprocessing, and decommissioning of a nuclear power plant at the end of its lifecycle. NPP is a big step into the future, and Rosatom is ready to assist Algerian partners along this challenging but, indeed, exciting path”.
Addressing to the audience, Abdelhamid Mellah stressed that Russia and Algeria are long-standing strategic partners, including in the nuclear field. Mellah added: “This workshop is a unique opportunity to benefit from ROSATOM’s extensive experience in the field of nuclear technology and the topics to be addressed will highlight the key role of nuclear technology in the social and economic development of the country. The outcomes of this workshop will clearly inform our country’s strategy towards achieving its objectives in energy security, healthcare and the well-being of society as a whole.”
The workshop continued with a thorough discussion of potential cooperation between COMENA and ROSATOM. The Algerian side showcased the country’s Nuclear Power Programme and current goals and expectations from NPP’s project. Speakers from Rosatom enterprises made a series of presentations about different angles of Rosatom NPP’s integrated offer – a comprehensive nuclear energy solution providing 360-degree support on every stage of the nuclear cycle, including fuel supply, back-end, infrastructure development, public acceptance of nuclear projects and many more.
Workshop participants learned about Russia’s Generation 3+ VVER-1200 reactors – the flagship most advanced technology promoted by Russian State Corporation abroad. VVER-1200 reactors meet all post-Fukushima safety requirements and include a unique combination of active and passive safety systems, making it the safest reactor technology. Apart from large-scale NPP projects, Rosatom offers SMR solutions, another small-capacity technology that supplies power to remote regions, island states, countries with lower power needs, or specific industrial projects, such as mining projects. It has quicker construction periods and lower start-up costs; it is easy to scale power up and down to meet changing energy demands. Rosatom is not just offering conceptual technology but is already successfully operating SMRs in Russia: the “Akademik Lomonosov” floating power plant has been supplying the port city of Pevek in Russia’s Chukotka region with both electricity and heat for more than two years. Rosatom has also started developing the first land-based SMR nuclear power plant in Yakutia, which will be equipped with RITM-200N reactors and connected to the grid in 2028.
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ROSATOM is a global technological leader with the necessary resources and competencies for successful operations in all parts of the nuclear energy production chain from uranium mining to decommissioning and safe nuclear waste disposal. ROSATOM is the largest energy producer in Russia, supplying some 20% of the country’s energy needs. With 34 units in 11 countries at different stages of implementation, the company ranks first in the world in foreign project development. The State Corporation unites more than 400 enterprises and organizations, including the world’s only nuclear icebreaker fleet. The company’s workforce is made up of a total of 250 thousand people.
Cooperation between Russia and Algeria is implemented in accordance with the Intergovernmental Agreement on cooperation in peaceful use of nuclear energy signed on September 3, 2014. ROSATOM implements two major NPP projects in MENA region, including El Dabaa NPP in Egypt and Akkuyu NPP in Turkiye. Both projects are based on VVER-1200 reactors of 3+ Generation that have successful history of operation. Five reactors equipped with VVER-1200 are successfully operating: two are located at the Novovoronezh NPP-2 and two at the Leningrad NPP-2 in Russia. The first power unit was connected to the grid at the Belarussian NPP in Belarus in November 2020.
