This article continues the debate on choosing a sequel to a strategy for the development of nuclear energy in the country. The provisions set forth in articles by the National Research Center Kurchatov Institute on the transition to a thorium-uranium nuclear fuel cycle are analyzed and compared with the Strategy for the Development of Nuclear Energy in Russia to 2050 and Prospects for the Period to 2100, which the Presidium of the Scientific and Technical Council of Rosatom State Corporation approved in 2018. The environmental impacts of nuclear power under these two approaches are compared. It is concluded that in an open nuclear fuel cycle thorium-uranium fuel has no significant advantages, including in the sphere of radiation safety.