Waste and income: Russia and Bolivia to sign energy agreement
Russia and Bolivia will sign a memorandum of cooperation in the field of spent nuclear fuel management on April 2, Izvestia has learned. The text of the agreement was approved by the Russian side at the end of March. It is assumed that the spent fuel at the nuclear reactor in Bolivia will be supplied to Russia for further processing. Minister of Hydrocarbons and Energy Alejandro Gallardo arrived in Russia on this occasion, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Energy for Planning and Energy Development of Bolivia Freddy Gustavo Velasquez Robles confirmed to Izvestia. Why it is important for the two countries to cooperate in this area is in the Izvestia article.
What the memorandum contains
On April 2, Russia and Bolivia will sign a memorandum of cooperation in the field of spent nuclear fuel management, for which the Minister of Hydrocarbons and Energy of the Latin American state, Alejandro Gallardo, arrived in Moscow a day earlier. This was reported to Izvestia by the Deputy head of the Ministry of Energy for Planning and Energy Development of Bolivia, Freddy Gustavo Velasquez Robles. "They will sign," he told Izvestia, answering a question about the future memorandum.
The essence of the agreement is that irradiated fuel assemblies of a research reactor from Bolivia will be imported to Russia for temporary technological storage with subsequent processing and abandonment of radioactive waste generated during the processing on the territory of our country.
— These assemblies are actually spent nuclear fuel. The operation itself can be compared to replacing batteries. Rosatom exports spent assemblies to Russia and processes them here. Some of the processed products will become waste, and some will be reused. Russia is one of the few countries in the world with the technology to recycle spent nuclear fuel and dispose of nuclear waste, which is why they are being brought to us," Igor Yushkov, an expert at the Financial University and a leading analyst at the National Energy Security Fund, explained to Izvestia.
We are talking about a reactor at the Nuclear research and Technology Center, which Rosatom is building in El Alto, Bolivia. The construction is at the final stage, and the reactor itself is scheduled to be installed in July. By the way, supplies of high-tech equipment needed for this project accounted for the bulk of the Russian-Bolivian trade turnover in 2024.
— Even this small research reactor produces spent nuclear fuel. Since Rosatom usually offers full—cycle projects, from construction to operation and personnel training, it also collects spent nuclear fuel. Now it has just reached the stage when it will appear," says Igor Yushkov.
The issue of handling spent nuclear fuel is urgent, the editor-in-chief of the magazine noted in an interview with Izvestia.Геоэнергетика.INFO "Boris Martsinkevich. According to the expert, the issue of radiation safety is not only a topic of bilateral relations, but also the need to comply with the requirements of the IAEA.
— The nuclear industry has always laid down such safety requirements that would significantly prevent possible damage and provide all the necessary protection. The principle of multiple risk calculation has also been introduced into environmental projects," Rosatom said earlier.
Cooperation between Russia and Bolivia in the field of energy
Russia and Bolivia are already actively cooperating in the field of energy. For a long time, priority has been given to the lithium partnership, which is assessed by both sides as strategic.
— Current forecasts of industry analysts indicate that there are grounds for a further multiple increase in demand for the "critical element of green energy" — lithium on the horizon until 2030 (in conjunction with an increase in the production of electric vehicles, energy storage systems and other high-tech products). This, in turn, indicates the high prospects of Bolivian lithium products on international markets," Rosatom said.
Just like Argentina and Chile, Bolivia is on the list of countries leading in lithium reserves, with resources estimated at approximately 21 million tons. Even during the presidential term of Evo Morales, the Latin American state nationalized this resource. This means that the monopoly on lithium mining is held by the state—owned company YLB (translated from Spanish as "Lithium Deposits of Bolivia"), the company was created specifically to implement the plan for nationalization. Thus, any foreign company must enter into an agreement with YLB.
Last September, the Uranium One Group, which is part of Rosatom, signed an agreement with YLB to build a plant in Bolivia that will produce 14,000 tons of lithium carbonate per year in the Bolivian salt marsh of Uyuni. The project also involves an investment of more than $970 million, which will fall into the country's budget.
Nevertheless, the full-fledged implementation of this project is still delayed due to difficulties in passing the contract through the Bolivian parliament. Earlier, Russian Ambassador to the South American country Dmitry Verchenko explained to Izvestia that this problem is largely due to internal political tensions on the eve of the presidential elections in August 2025. According to the diplomat, "the effective development of bilateral Russian-Bolivian cooperation in the lithium field at the initial stage is to a certain extent limited by the diverse political interests of the groups fighting for power."
For Russia, cooperation with Bolivia in the field of lithium mining is important: despite the rather large reserves of the metal (fifth in the world), it is practically not mined in our country. For a long time, it was more profitable to buy it abroad.
Lithium is necessary for the production of batteries. Russia imports about 60% of lithium—ion batteries from China, the largest manufacturer of such batteries. According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China, in 2023, the volume of lithium-ion battery production exceeded 940 gigawatt-hours, which in monetary terms amounts to about $197 billion in profit for Beijing. Independent lithium mining and battery production would give the Russian Federation independence and promote import substitution processes. In February 2025, at the plenary session of the Future Technologies Forum, the president drew attention to the fact that Russia needs to address this issue: "In principle, we have everything we need."
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