Russia to complete nuclear reform by mid '07

MOSCOW, June 27 (Reuters) Russia will restructure its nuclear industry over the next year to boost atomic power generation, its nuclear chief said today.

The work is central to a longer term plan by President Vladimir Putin to raise the share of nuclear energy to 25 percent of electricity production from 16 now, which would involve building at least two reactors a year.

''The main aspects of the restructuring of the civilian parts of the atomic sector must be completed within a year, a year from now,'' Sergei Kiriyenko, the head of Russia's nuclear energy agency (Rosatom), told reporters.

Moscow has offered to enrich uranium for Iran and proposed a network of centres to enrich uranium for other states, a policy it also sees as both good foreign policy and a profitable niche.

Putin has put energy security at the heart of the agenda for a summit of the Group of Eight wealthy nations in St Petersburg next month.

Kremlin officials see energy -- particularly oil, gas and nuclear -- as a new arrow in Russia's geopolitical quiver.

A central part of the reorganisation is creating a single state civilian nuclear company called Atomprom from the many smaller -- and sometimes overlapping -- companies in the sector.

Nuclear officials suggest Atomprom could become the Gazprom of the nuclear industry, a reference to the state controlled gas giant Gazprom, the world's biggest natural gas company by reserves.

ATOMPROM Kiriyenko said it was too early to say when Atomprom would be created. It has long been floated by nuclear officials as a way to increase Russia's presence on the world market.

''The main thing is the president has approved the programme for development of the atomic sector and in there is a plan of measures to develop and restructure the sector,'' he said.

But an industry source with knowledge of the plans told Reuters that key decisions on Atomprom could be taken in the fourth quarter of 2006.

''The aim is to boost Russia's position on the world market and increase generation as the president set out,'' the source said.

Under the plans, the units of Rosatom would be merged into an integrated 100-percent state-owned company.

The company would unite all nuclear power generation, uranium production and enrichment as well as the building and export of nuclear products, he said.

If the plan is implemented Atomprom would include nuclear power company Rosenergoatom -- which controls Russia's nuclear power stations -- and the civilian units of Rosatom.

Rosatom's main units are Tekhsnabexport (Tenex), the state owned uranium trader, TVEL, the state owned nuclear fuel producer and trader, and Atomstroiexport, the state controlled builder of nuclear reactors abroad.

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