Final Word from Monday, July 17, 2006
In an internet interview, Vladimir Putin asked the host if she'd sell him her pearl necklace for 5 kopecks or a ruble. Of course not, he added. So why should Russia sell its oil or gas cheaply, he asked? What now applies to oil and gas doesn't yet apply to nuclear power, because Russia still hasn't hooked the world on its technology and fuel. It's working on it, though. Tvel won the contract at Temelín by using state subsidies for the fuel development, giving it an unbeatable edge over Westinghouse. Editor-in-chief Natallia Sudliankova of "Rusko v globální politice" said that Russia can only play first fiddle in world energy if it has a clear nuclear policy. "A nuclear-power alternative must be accessible to all countries willing to use it," Putin said in voicing his policy on the eve of the G-8 meeting. Putin's Orwellian buzzword is energy interdependence. A model for it in the nuclear sector is what Tvel and Gazprom are aggressively accomplishing in the CR.[Czech Republic Group of Eight G8 "Russia in Global Politics" TVEL natural gas ČEZ]