Russia plans to produce uranium in foreign countries:official

Moscow, Apr 10 (UNI) An official of the state-controlled nuclear-technology exporting and uranium enrichment service providing company today said that Russia was planning to produce uranium in foreign countries, while actively prospecting new deposits at home.

''We intend to produce uranium around the world,'' General Director of Techsnabexport, Vladimir Smirnov told RIA Novosti news agency here.

''We are interested in reviving uranium markets in Africa and other countries,'' Mr Smirnov said adding that South Africa, Namibia and Nigeria rank among the world's top 10 uranium producers.

He pointed out that before the collapse of the Soviet Union, production of uranium had been concentrated in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, while only one deposit was explored in Russia.

He said that Russia should expand uranium prospecting on its own territory to avoid future nuclear fuel deficit as demand from its nuclear power industry was growing.

Earlier, company's Deputy Director Vladimir Servetnik said that demand for uranium in Russia could grow from 8,300 tonnes in 2006 to 18,000 tonnes in 2020, and the country could face a shortage of uranium after 2035 if prospecting did not increase sharply in the near future.

Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for the Management of Mineral Resources Vladimir Bavlov said recently that Russia's current uranium reserves stood at 830,000 tonnes, but they would be depleted by 2015 if the country did not invest at least 10 billion dollars in prospecting and increased uranium production to meet the level of consumption by that time.

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