Russia ready to support IAEA in securing the green status of nuclear energy

VIENNA. Sept 20 (Interfax) - Russia is ready to support the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in securing green status of nuclear energy, Alexei Likhachev, CEO of Rosatom state atomic energy corporation, said during the 65th General Conference of the IAEA.

According to Likhachev, the contribution of nuclear energy to the fight against climate change could hardly be overestimated. Nuclear power plants operating worldwide provide savings in greenhouse gas emissions comparable to the absorbing capacity of all the planet's forests.

"We in Russia have no doubt that modern nuclear energy complies with the principles of sustainable development and provides the economy with stable and clean energy. The highest safety standards, enshrined, among other things, in the IAEA standards, guarantee the absence of a negative impact of nuclear facilities on the health of people and the environment. In Russia this year, the sustainability of nuclear energy will be enshrined in legislation in the national taxonomy of green projects," Likhachev said.

"We are confident that it is the IAEA, as a key profile organization, that should play a central role in efforts to consolidate the status of nuclear energy as green. We are ready to provide the necessary support," Rosatom's CEO stressed.