December 4 was the Russia Day at EXPO 2020. Alexey Likhachev, Director General of ROSATOM, attended the official Russia Day events as a member of the delegation headed by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
After the Russian flag-raising ceremony in Al Wasl Plaza, the delegation visited the Russian Pavilion. Alexey Likhachev presented the multimedia ROSATOM booth, a prominent part of the Pavilion, to the Russian Prime Minister.
The Russian Pavilion embodies the idea of the future. It features the scientific and cultural achievements of the past but also shows how creative minds make the future for all humanity. The ROSATOM booth follows the theme of the Russian Pavilion presenting the timeline of great discoveries, engineering marvels, and treasures of art emphasizing the contribution of many civilizations to the progress of culture and technology. Russia became one of the technology leaders in the 20th century by sending the first man into space and harnessing nuclear energy. Nowadays, nuclear power is instrumental to humans pursuing knowledge and creating sustainable future.
“Nuclear technologies are more than just sustainable electric power generation. Such technologies deliver innovative solutions for environmental, economic, social, and other problems of the present, and lay a foundation for sustainable development. We are building on the unparalleled human brain capability concept presented in the Russian Pavilion to show amazing ideas and discoveries created throughout human history. The Russian nuclear industry serves as an example of Russian state-of-the-art technology for all humanity”, noted Alexey Likhachev.
ROSATOM Director General also spoke at the Russia Forum: Driving the Future panel session attended by Denis Manturov, Minister of Industry and Trade, Russia; Tani bin Ahmed Al Zayoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, UAE; Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, DP World; and Herman Gref, CEO, Sberbank. In his speech, Alexey Likhachev highlighted the contribution of nuclear technologies to solving the key challenges, building an environment for better life quality, and reversing climate changes. He also told about ROSATOM’s ongoing and future projects in the MENA region.
“Today, the Middle East and Northern Africa emerge as trendsetters for the global nuclear power industry. We are happy to note our long and successful partnership with this region. Currently, we are working on the two largest NPP construction projects in Turkey and Egypt. El Dabaa is Egypt’s first NPP. It will have four power units with VVER-1200 of 4,800 MW in total. Reactors of this type will also be installed at Akkuyu NPP, Turkey, where the unprecedented in its scale project is underway at the site of construction of four units. In addition to these projects, we are bidding for a Saudi Arabia NPP project, collaborating with UAE in nuclear fuel cycle technologies and other areas. For example, as we develop the Northern Sea Route, we’ve signed an agreement with DP World, one of the global logistics leaders, to jointly work on pilot container shipping between North-West Europe and East Asia using the Arctic infrastructure. This is a part of the project to build a container shipping line and hub ports to carry cargo over the Northern Sea Route. We firmly believe that the project will introduce a pilot cargo route to improve the sustainability of the Euro-Asian and global trade”, added Alexey Likhachev.
Besides the booth at the Russian Pavilion exhibition, ROSATOM will host the Nuclear Week in the middle of January to present its technologies improving the life quality: large and small NPPs, wind energy, nuclear medicine, energy storage systems, and composite materials. ROSATOM will host the High Tech for Sustainable Future week in the Russian Pavilion on January 17-24, 2022.