Russian, South African nuclear companies strengthen cooperation

By: Keith Campbell

Rusatom Overseas, the international arm of Russia’s State-owned nuclear energy group Rosatom, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) in Moscow on Monday. The MoU lays the foundation for the development of joint business projects in, for example, the production and marketing of radioisotopes, the manufacture of nuclear fuel and the fabrication of power equipment. It also opens the way for future cooperation in other, mutually agreed, areas.
“The South African nuclear industry has a great potential for growth, not only in the business of isotope production where South Africa is already playing a major role but also in areas such as fuel fabrication and nuclear manufacturing,” highlighted Necsa acting CEO Don Robertson.

“Local provision of both nuclear and conventional power plant equipment for the envisaged [South African] NPPs [nuclear power plants] will be a good undertaking for Necsa,” he added. “Partnerships such as the one reinforced by this memorandum will ensure that Necsa is in a good position to participate in the execution of many South African initiatives falling within the scope of this agreement.”

“Signing the MoU with Necsa allows us to make practical the implementation of initiatives on those prospective cooperation areas, which have been intensely studied by the specialists of our countries during last year,” pointed out Rusatom Overseas director-general Alexey Kalinin. “We see great potential in such cooperation and are looking forward to witnessing the first significant results.”

Cooperation within the framework of the MoU is intended by both sides to assist the execution of South Africa’s Integrated Resource Plan 2010, which includes the construction of NPPs with a total capacity of 9.6 GW by 2030. Additionally, Necsa and Rusatom Overseas also plan to develop cooperation, including Rusatom’s parent group, in NPP construction projects in third countries.

The MoU was signed by Kalinin and by Necsa NTP executive director Ms Mapula Letsoalo in front of South African Energy Minister Dipuo Peters and Rosatom director-general Sergey Kirienko. The signing was one of the events at the Atomexpo 2012 exposition.

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