Russia will become a full-fledged member of the Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) commencing January 1, 2013.
The signing of exchange letters concerning Russia’s ascension to the Agency was held in Paris in the framework of the OECD Forum. The document was signed by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Andrey Denisov, Deputy Head of Rosatom Nikolai Spasskiy and Secretary General of the OECD Angel Gurria.
Denisov told journalists he viewed the signing as another milestone in Russia’s ascension to the OECD. “The ascension fixes formal ties of our cooperation and imposes obligations,” he pointed out, highlighting the nuclear safety issue.
The Russian nuclear power was developing in isolation for a long time and only recently has entered the international market,” Denisov noted.
In the world there are several schools of scientific development in this area, therefore the market is competitive, the deputy foreign minister said, expressing hope the Russian nuclear industry would be able to stand this competition.
The documents don’t need ratification; they will come into force commencing January 1, 2013, Denisov added.
Addressing the OECD/NEA, Spasskiy said on his part that ascending the OECD/NEA Russia undertakes all standard obligations of membership and is tuned to a constructive work backed up by concerted efforts of all ministries and agencies.
The NEA of the OECD was established in 1958. It is headed by Director General Luis Echavarri. The NEA is an international organization with a strong financial and economic potential of its member states who are at a high science and technology level. The NEA includes 30 member states: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Island, Italy, Japan, Luxemburg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, and USA.
The OECD/NEA mission is to assist its member states in science and technology development, harmonization of national regulatory legal instruments for safe, economical and environmentally clean uses of atomic energy in peaceful purposes. In its activities the NEA is oriented to existing civil nuclear programs of its member states.
Until present, Russia has cooperated with the NEA as an observer in accordance with the joint declaration of cooperation signed by the Government of Russia and the OECD/NEA in the field of the peaceful use of atomic energy. The declaration was signed on March 21, 2007.
The cooperation participation is equally shared by ROSATOM and organizations of the Russian nuclear industry, Rostechnadzor, and the Russian Academy of Sciences. The Government of the Russian Federation has entitled ROSATOM to coordinate the Russian side of the cooperation with the OECD/NEA.
RIA Novosti
