Russia's Rosatom hopes to win Saudi nuclear plants' tender

Russia’s state-owned nuclear company Rosatom hopes to win a tender announced by Saudi Arabia to build nuclear plants in the kingdom, Reuters reported, citing the head of Rosatom, Alexei Likhachyov.

“As far as I understand, Saudi Arabia should make a decision next year about the construction and a constructor. We hope it will be us,” he was quoted as saying.

Rosatom has sent initial proposals for nuclear power generation in the Kingdom and would make a bid if a tender is announced, the company said earlier this month.

Saudi Arabia is considering building 17.6 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2032, the equivalent of about 17 reactors, making it one of the biggest prospects for an industry struggling after the 2011 nuclear disaster in Japan.