- Ethiopia and Russia have entered into an agreement to cooperate on a nuclear program that will see the construction of a nuclear power station in the East African country within the next ten years.
- The agreement was signed by Alexey Likhachev, Rosatom’s director general and Getahun Mecuria Kuma, Ethiopia’s Minister of Innovation and Technology on the sidelines of the recently held Russia—Africa summit and economic forum in Sochi recently.
The Russians, as per this agreement will help to develop the foundations for an Ethiopian nuclear industry, including the writing of safety regulations and establishing storage facilities for nuclear fuel and waste.
According to the agreement, the two sides will form a committee to draft a list of projects whose centerpiece will be a 3GW nuclear plant, and reactors to create radioactive isotopes for medical, agriculture and research purposes.
On a press release, Rosatom noted that the agreement would “serve as a catalyst for active dialogue between the two countries” and would create “a legal framework for cooperation in a wide range of sectors and for the implementation of selected joint projects”.
The agreement may as well, in the long run, lead to the construction of an Ethiopian Centre for Nuclear Science and Technology.
Russia has also signed nuclear co-operation agreements with Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda recently.
The State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM is one of the global technological leaders. It is one of the largest companies of the Russian Federation and largest taxpayers of the country. It brings together nuclear power and power engineering assets, as well as NPP design and construction. ROSATOM is the largest electricity generating company in Russia. ROSATOM holds first place for the largest portfolio of foreign construction projects (36 NPP Units in 12 countries). ROSATOM covers 16% of the global nuclear fuel market. ROSATOM also manufactures equipment and produces isotopes for nuclear medicine, carries out research, material studies. It also produces supercomputers and software as well as different nuclear and non-nuclear innovative products. ROSATOM’s strategy is to develop clean energy projects, including wind energy.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
