RUSSIA'S CLIMATE RESPONSIBILITY

N - 2 June 2021 - “Last year we not only became a federal operator for the management of industrial waste, we took this as a global task. An environmental division has been established at Rosatom,” Alexei Likhachev, Rosatom General Director told the IX Nevsky International Ecological Congress on 27 May. 

“Over the past decades, our planet has come to a certain point of no return. Until recently, the topic of ecology was optional, on the sidelines at large forums, but now we understand that the problem of accumulating environmental harm cannot be solved without the participation of large technological players,” he said. “Over 75 years of work, we have accumulated extensive experience in handling the most hazardous substances, learned how to turn spent nuclear fuel into raw materials. These recycling technologies, which we advocate in the nuclear industry, will be extended to work with industrial waste. Today's congress is a testament to the partnership between government, business, scientists, and public organizations. It is important that even more efforts be concentrated on the environmental direction.”

On the first day of the congress, Rosatom specialists spoke about the technological solutions used in the implementation of environmental projects, environmental safety, the formation of a circular economy, new climate policy and green energy. The companies of the Rosatom contour presented their competences: Federal State Unitary Enterprise Federal Environmental Operator, JSC Rusatom Infrastructure Solutions, JSC Rusatom Greenway and JSC NovaWind.

Andrei Lebedev, Rosatom director for the implementation of state and sectoral programmes in the field of ecology, spoke about the implementation of the national project "Ecology". “The federal environmental operator will be responsible for the full life cycle of class I and II waste management. It will become a single window for educators, processors, and transport companies. This year we are putting into operation the state information system. It will make it possible to make an inventory of all the volumes of waste generation in relation to the subjects and industrial sites. All participants will be able to conduct contractual work in this system, analyse and build logistics online. At the same time, unique complexes have been designed for processing such waste and obtaining marketable products.”.

“When implementing water treatment and water purification projects, Rosatom works in three directions: modernising the existing infrastructure, creating a single centre for managing and maintaining water infrastructure, and creating a digital ecosystem. It is important that the state corporation is developing international cooperation in this area, considering such synergy to be extremely important by combining practices, ”said Ksenia Sukhotina, General Director of Rusatom Infrastructure Solutions JSC.

“Climatic and environmental impact is an integral part of any business. For Rosatom, these parameters are important in the development of the product line - nuclear and wind energy as low-carbon types of generation, environmental projects, digital solutions for the development of the urban environment, water treatment technologies,” said Polina Lyon, Director of the Rosatom Sustainable Development Department.

Maxim Korolkov, First Deputy General Director for Implementation of Environmental Projects at FSUE FEO, raised the problem of reclamation of accumulated damage and building a system of responsible industrial waste management, citing the example of the most notorious sites: the Krasny Bor toxic industrial waste landfill, 30 km from St. Petersburg, a huge dump of solid municipal waste within the boundaries of Chelyabinsk, the industrial site of the former Usolsk "Khimprom" and the Baikalsk Pulp and Paper Mill in the Irkutsk Region.

“As part of the activities of the state corporation, we are engaged in the real sector of the economy in renewable energy. Localisation is one of the most important components in ensuring the implementation of green projects in Russia. Our plant in Volgodonsk produces technologically sophisticated units for wind power plants. Currently, we have formed a full range of competencies as a developer of such projects and are ready to deepen the programme in Russia and enter international markets, ”said Alexander Korchagin, General Director of NovaWind JSC.

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