Rosatom may export nuclear materials to Asia via far-eastern ports
MOSCOW. Nov 11 (Interfax) - The Russian Federal Customs Service (FTS) suggests adding two far-eastern ports - Vostochny and Nakhodka - to the list of official checkpoints for the import and export of nuclear materials.
The move will enable the Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation to expand its market of uranium exports.
A draft government decree on the nuclear checkpoint issue has been posted on the FTS website on Thursday. Its previous version, published in August, comprised 25 checkpoints authorized to register nuclear exports and imports and the transit of nuclear-related cargo. Now, their number stands at 27.
The inclusion of Vostochny and Nakhodka into the official nuclear checkpoints will provide for direct supplies of nuclear-related products to Japan and other Asia-Pacific countries, a spokesman for Techsnabexport, a Rosatom subsidiary, explained to Interfax. He gave no further details.
Earlier, Techsnabexport unveiled plans to create an Asia-Pacific-oriented logistic complex in the Far East.
Japanese companies have been showing keen interest in the idea of shipping uranium from Kazakhstan along the cost-reducing new route via far-eastern ports.
For now, the St. Petersburg port remains the main gateway for Kazakh uranium deliveries by sea.
The above list contains 13 ports, 9 airports (among them Domodedovo, Vnukovo, Sheremetyevo, Pulkovo as well as airports in Vladivostok, Samara and Novosibirsk) and 5 railway checkpoints through which the export and import of nuclear-related products is officially allowed.