Global demand rising for Russian-built nuclear power plants

Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom expects to sign foreign contracts worth $26 billion this year for the construction and maintenance of nuclear power plants, official data shows.

According to its results for 2017, Rosatom’s portfolio of foreign orders for the next decade totals $133.6 billion. The company traditionally calculates its portfolio of orders for a period of 10 years. Head of Rosatom Alexei Likhachev told reporters that the firm hopes to exceed the $130-billion mark.

The Russian company has recently inked agreements on nuclear cooperation with India, Iran, Egypt, China, and a number of other countries. It is bidding to construct 16 nuclear power plants in Saudi Arabia.

The corporation will also help Japan to clean up after the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The assistance was offered by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2017.

Officials say the decommissioning of the wrecked Fukushima reactors will take several decades, and – according to some estimates – the cost could reach $200 billion.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section