Russia is still promoting nuclear power plants building, while Japan suffers from the nuclear disaster. In addition, Russia has orders to build nuclear plants in Bulgaria, Armenia, India, Iran, China and is pursuing deals in South America.

According to El Pais magazine, Russia reinforced its commitment to nuclear energy. On Wednesday Russia has confirmed its plans to build first nuclear power plant in Turkey and the day before had agreed to construct the first-ever nuclear power plant in Belarus. The cost of these projects is measured in billions of dollars. It was told that the Turkish project is different from Japan stations and they have much more higher level of protection. The agreement on construction of nuclear power plants in Turkey was signed in May, 2010. The plants will be able to withstand an earthquake of 8-9 points magnitude. In addition, El Pais notes, that the plant will be located 25 km from the seismically-active territory.

Another resource, Timesofindia, notes, that Russia “has ruled out any delay in Moscow's nuclear power expansion programme with India”. The reactors being built by Russians in India are 3-4 times safer than those affected by tsunami in Japan, according to Sergey Karamalito, Russia's senior counselor in India. At this moment Russia is

The resource notes, that Japan situation does not slow down cooperation between India and Russia and another space was allotted for six more reactors at Haripur in West Bengal.

According to The Financial Times, "Russia’s state atomic agency has been carving out a role for itself as global exporter of nuclear know-how. But with nuclear programmes coming under new scrutiny around the world, Rosatom will have its work cut out turning projects into hard cash". The source points that Japan crisis will affect nuclear programmes generally.

Russia planed to build a nuclear plant in Venezuela as well. "The deal was announced during a state visit to Moscow by Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chávez, and is in keeping with a push by Russian businesses to expand sales of reactors and nuclear fuel around the world", says Nytimes.com resource. Rosatom was going to build one nuclear plant with two large pressurized water reactors to generate power. Also it was planned to make a small research reactor to make medical isotopes and nuclear materials that could be useful as pesticides for agriculture. But Japan’s crisis affected the situation and Venezuela suspended nuclear program.

Many foreign resources criticize Russian decision to go on with nuclear programs. According to Radio Free Europe, some experts say Russian Rosatom Rosatom is courting danger by extending existing nuclear power stations’ lifetimes long beyond their expiration dates. The source notes that none of currently operating Russian reactors has a containment shell for minimizing radiation leaks. According to Radio Free Europe, it seems odd to choose nuclear energy having the world’s biggest reserves of natural gas. So if this program is just an official’s desire to make profits or a really useful source of energy for humanity?

Sources:
inosmi.ru
inopressa.ru
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
iblogs.ft.com
nytimes.com
online.wsj.com
rferl.org
inopressa.ru
ftd.de
elpais.com