Sri Lanka has turned down a Russian offer to go nuclear in the energy sector after Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko, who was on a visit to Sri Lanka recently, said discussions could begin should Sri Lanka express an interest in obtaining a small modular nuclear power plant for the country.
Talks with Russia for a small nuclear plant have been ongoing for several years.
Russian Ambassador Levan S. Dzhagaryan, who met with Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath in early March to discuss the purchase of fuel from Russia, also brought up the nuclear option.
He said that if Sri Lanka had agreed to a Russian suggestion to build a nuclear power plant in the country, it would not have faced energy shortage issues today.
Mr Herath, however, said Sri Lanka’s emphasis was on renewable energy for the moment.
The nuclear option for power generation for Sri Lanka has been ongoing for several years, but there has been little movement in that direction so far. A feasibility study was held as far back as 2010, but there was little progress in the matter.
In 2023, the Atomic Energy Authority discussed a proposal from Russia to develop an offshore or onshore nuclear power plant in Sri Lanka.
Russia has been building nuclear power plants in countries such as Bangladesh, China and India.