Russia will lose nuclear shield if nuclear energy industry curtailed - Kiriyenko
MOSCOW. March 28 (Interfax) - Russia will not curtail nuclear power generation following the nuclear disaster in Japan, or it will lose not only its competitiveness, but also its nuclear shield.
"Nuclear energy implies not only electric power plants, but also the country's entire nuclear shield," chief of the federal nuclear energy corporation (Rosatom) Sergei Kiriyenko said in the "Pozner"program on Channel One on Sunday evening.
"If the country curtails nuclear power generation, we will lose a competitive nuclear weapons complex in 10, 15, or, with a piece of luck, 20 years," Kiriyenko said.
The construction of nuclear submarines "which today guarantee the strategic balance" directly depends on the development of the nuclear power industry," he said.
"The same is true about future development in general. Space exploration is unthinkable without nuclear power as a source of energy," he added.
"If we are discussing the energy of the future, which will emerge one day, whether thermonuclear or hydrogen, progress towards it, in terms of technology, knowledge and skills, will proceed through the development of nuclear power, which is absolutely clear," Kiriyenko said.
"What matters is a correct energy balance," he said.