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Russian Parliament predicts Japan’s unique event will not negatively impact nuclear development
- 13 years ago (2011-03-15)
- Junior Isles
The State Duma lower house of the Russian parliament believes that the damage at the Japanese nuclear power plants caused by the devastating earthquake on March 11, will not have a negative influence on the development of world nuclear power generation, it has been reported.
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"It is difficult to say what nuclear power plant can stand a magnitude 9 tremor, given the fact that Japan's nuclear power engineering factored in seismicity from the beginning," deputy speaker Valery Yazev, who supervises the energy theme, said.
"We [Russia] don't build NPPs in such zones. However, you remember that the Armenian nuclear power plant, in effect, withstood the test of earthquake," Yazev said.
In this connection, Yazev did not rule out that the situation in Japan "will complicate decision-making," for example, by Europe, on a sweeping increase in the number of nuclear power generation facilities.
He agreed that "perhaps, it is not expedient to build NPPs in certain regions of the world given such factors as high seismicity".
"But this does not imply that one has to scale it down altogether," the parliamentarian said. Furthermore, Yazev believes that despite the demolitions and difficult situation in the area of Japanese NPPs, the nuclear power generation of that country "passed the test by an earthquake of that unique magnitude."
"Nobody will be stopping the functioning plants. A nuclear renaissance is obviously underway in the world, with decisions on building new NPPs made in Europe, Asia and the US.
"Perhaps, the critics of these decisions will get additional arguments as they look at Japan now, but the world almost has no such regions, except Japan, which would have unique seismic situation and nuclear power generation.
"So I do not think that by mature analysis, this [situation in Japan] will introduce some negative factors in the development of world nuclear power generation. However, it will give everybody, including Russia, additional information, in order to work out extra means of protection of the earthquake of that magnitude," Yazev said.