A large uranium field will be developed in Yakutia in East Siberia, a first deputy prime minister said on Friday.

"A large uranium ore deposit will be developed here," Sergei Ivanov told journalists.

According to Russia`s Federal Agency for Nuclear Power (Rosatom), the country has 870,000 metric tons of natural uranium, the world`s third-largest reserves behind Australia and Kazakhstan.

Ivanov, who oversees defense-related industries in his role as first deputy premier, also said last week that 18 billion rubles ($722 million) in federal budget funds had been allocated this year for the development of the nuclear energy sector, and that 51 billion rubles ($2 billion) and 90 billion rubles ($3.6 billion) would be spent in 2008 and 2009, respectively.

Russia is expected to double electricity generation at nuclear power plants by 2020 through the construction of 26 new reactors with total output of 1.2-1.5 gigawatts.

"We will be able to supply all future nuclear reactors in Russia with uranium for the full working cycle," Sergei Kiriyenko, the head of Rosatom, said at an energy conference in Moscow on October 23.
sections: Economics, Region News
areas: Siberian region