OREANDA-NEWS. March 4, 2009. Today Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation and Siemens AG have announced that they have singed a memorandum of mutual understanding for the establishment of a joint venture in the field of peaceful use of nuclear energy. This company is supposed to implement existing and new projects concerning Russian WWER (water-water energy reactor) technology, to engage in marketing and sales and to build new reactors and to modernize and improve existing ones.

The JV may carry out activities throughout the nuclear fuel cycle — from fabrication of fuel to decommissioning of nuclear power plants – provided that the projects are economically expedient.

At the next stage the parties are going to negotiate the details of their cooperation. The JV is a good way for them to complement each other. Rosatom will hold majority stake in the company (50% + 1 share).

Rosatom is the only company in the world covering the whole technological cycle in the field of peaceful use of nuclear energy, including operation of nuclear power plants.

Siemens AG has a years-long know-how in the field of production of equipment for nuclear power plants and wide experience in the field of project management.

“The progress we have achieved as a result of our negotiations has confirmed that we do understand each other due to our experience of cooperation under joint projects. In full partnership with Siemens, we seek to become the leaders of the world’s nuclear energy market. I am sure that very soon we will take our next steps in this direction,” Director General of Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation Sergey Kiriyenko said after the negotiations.

President and CEO of Siemens AG Peter Lцscher said that he was very glad to announce the first step towards closer cooperation taken just four weeks after Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s kind invitation to start negotiations with Rosatom. He said that partnership with a strong and experienced partner like Rosatom offered Siemens wide opportunities for larger involvement in the nuclear business. Being a substantial part of the power balance, nuclear energy will play an important role in power supplies due to its low CO2 emission rate.