Joint statement on developing strategic cooperation in nuclear power expected to be signed after Russian and Chinese premiers' meeting - Prikhodko
MOSCOW. Nov 5 (Interfax) - A joint statement of the heads of government of Russia and China concerning the development of strategic cooperation in nuclear power use is expected to be signed after a meeting of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang in St. Petersburg on November 7.
"The document is at a high level of readiness. We hope to complete the work on it by the meeting of the heads of government," Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Prikhodko, who also heads the government's executive office, told reporters.
The document "will sum up the results and will open up new opportunities for cooperation in this area, as well as will detail certain projects," he said.
The adoption of this statement is in no way related to recent Russian-U.S. disagreements in the nuclear sphere, in particular Russia's withdrawal from the bilateral plutonium cleanup accord, the deputy prime minister said.
"Cooperation between Russia and China in the nuclear sphere had begun long before these sanction collisions [occurred] and is in no way linked with the actions of our American or European partners," Prikhodko said.
When addressing concrete plans in the nuclear power issue, Prikhodko said that today "construction and assembly efforts at the third and fourth power units of the Tianwan nuclear power plant [NPP] are going according to plan, and the putting of the Tianwan NPP's second section into commercial operation has been scheduled for 2018."