The nuclear energy industry

The chapter analyses the top organisational level of the nuclear energy industry. Over the period under study, the industry’s head organisation changed from the ministry Minatom (before 2004) to federal agency to the state corporation Rosatom (from 2007). For a long time, Minatom was not very accessible to state control and oversight. Slow institutional development stunted its business development, including the development of strategic partnerships abroad. Rosatom ’s post-Soviet operations expanded when it became available as a foreign policy tool after reform in 2005–2007. From then on, being a foreign policy tool was integral to Rosatom ’s international expansion. The possibility of maintaining dependence on Russian technology and funding, also in the nuclear fuel cycle, was significant in Russian foreign policy towards Kazakhstan and Ukraine.