San Francisco Bay View »Nuclear Energy in Africa?

by Ann Garrison

Rosatom – the Russian state-owned company for nuclear energy – recently signed memoranda of understanding with a number of African countries to build nuclear power plants at inside their borders. I spoke to David Himbara, professor of international development and energy activist in Africa, about the likelihood that Rosatom will build these nuclear power plants.

Ann Garrison : In your midrange essay, "The Kagame Nuclear Power Plant is a joke," you say the cost of a nuclear power plant would be equivalent to Rwanda's national budget for three years. Why do you think he's proposing something so absurd?

David Himbara : Rwandan President Paul Kagame is still on the hunt for the world's star. He seems to believe that he has to validate his so-called visionary and innovative leadership by pronouncing big projects that rarely materialize. Recently, he jumped on the train of African heads of state trying to combat energy poverty with nuclear electricity

AG : What other African nations signed these memoranda of understanding with Rosatom?

DH Other African countries that have signed memoranda of understanding with Rosatom include South Africa, Namibia, Nigeria, and Uganda. Kenya is also working with Russia on this subject

AG : Why do you think these countries are pursuing nuclear energy instead of renewable energy safer?

DH : I think that's a sign of despair. Currently, sub-Saharan Africa faces an extraordinary level of energy poverty. Of the billion inhabitants of the region, 620 million do not have electricity.

Even worse, about 80% of the region's population continues to cook with solid biomass. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), of the 25 countries in the world where more than 90% of the population cooks with solid biomass, 20 are in sub-Saharan Africa. It is these realities that force African governments to explore all options for dealing with energy poverty

AG : It is hard to imagine that this makes sense if we consider the environmental consequences. Nuclear waste will accumulate, and where will it go? The Sahara?

The United States is still trying to force a nuclear waste repository on a poor or indigenous community here, and when that fails, the waste continues to accumulate at the reactor sites, creating a risk of rejection of more and more important. earthquake or another kind of disaster or accident. And that aside from the tragic environmental damage caused by the extraction of uranium and the possibility of a Chernobyl or Fukushima in Africa.

DH : The management of nuclear waste and security is universally complex and dangerous. The Chernobyl disaster reminded the world of the human and environmental costs of nuclear accidents. The Koeberg nuclear power plant in South Africa, the only nuclear power plant in Africa, has been uneventful during its 34 years of operation. As for the future, we must wait and see what other African countries will build nuclear power plants

AG : And what is the probability that one of these African countries will succeed in building power stations nuclear?

DH : South Africa is the only country on the African continent that already has a commercial nuclear power plant. With two reactors, the South African Koeberg nuclear power plant produces nearly 2,000 megawatts of electricity. This represents about 5% of South Africa's electricity production. South Africa also has a research reactor located at the Pelindaba Nuclear Research Center in Gauteng Province.

Before leaving Jacob Zuma, he had already signed a $ 76 million deal with the Russians for the construction of a new nuclear power plant. . This agreement was one of the reasons why Zuma fell.

For example, when Zuma signed the agreement with the Russians, his finance minister refused to sign. Zuma rejected the minister. From there, Zuma went down, which later lost power.

Other countries seem to be moving forward. Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and Namibia appear in the emerging countries of nuclear energy. Meanwhile, Namibia has 6% of the world's uranium resources, which is obviously an advantage.

AG : What about the cost? Nuclear reactors are not cheap. Can African governments hope to finance this ambition?

DH : This is a good question. For South Africa, which already has a nuclear power plant and 34 years of experience in the field, as well as a relatively large economy of $ 349 billion, the cost is manageable.

Nigeria and Namibia could also bear these costs. What is a mystery, is how countries like Rwanda can afford it. A nuclear power plant costs no less than $ 9 billion, and many are more expensive.

AG : Rosatom would hold the largest portfolio of foreign construction contracts in Russia, and I think we can assume that they are just trying to make money, but that is What do you think motivates African leaders?

DH : As I have already mentioned, African countries are facing catastrophic levels of energy poverty. This is the factor that drives to explore the possibility of nuclear energy.

AG : I know anyone would read that would think that I did a bad job if I did not ask you if you think African leaders are motivated by nuclear war in Libya. after Gaddafi abandoned his nuclear capability? Nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons are inextricably linked

DH : Historically, nuclear energy evolved within the rivalries of political power initially between Germany and the United States during the Second World War. World War. The nuclear rivalry then moved into the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective regions of influence.

Separated from this was the nuclear rivalry between India and Pakistan. Other countries have acquired nuclear power, including China and North Korea. There were other countries eager to acquire nuclear capabilities – Iraq, Iran and Libya.

The African scenario that I have described here is different – the pursuit of nuclear energy is the fight against energy poverty

AG : The cost of construction of the I & # 39; Does nuclear energy make sense with respect to the cost of building renewable energy or other sources of energy to solve energy shortages in Africa?

DH : That's actually the question. The potential of renewable energy in Africa is huge. Take, for example, the Grand Inga Dam in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Grand Inga is the largest hydroelectric project proposed in the world. It is the centerpiece of a great vision to develop a continent – wide food system. Grand Inga is expected to have a power generation capacity of about 40,000 megawatts – almost twice as much as the 20 largest nuclear power plants.

AG : When I read projects from large power plants in the Global South, it generally seems that they are being built to fuel industrial mining and other industries. Resource extraction forms, although the government and builders say that they are trying to bring electricity to those who do not have it. I read a plan to build a grid that would carry electricity throughout DR Congo – from the Grand Inga Dam on its western border to the mineral-rich Katanga Province on its southeastern border to feed the industrial mines. Am I too cynical?

DH : Grand Inga, as I just described it, is not limited to the mining industry. The proposed hydroelectric project is the centerpiece of a grand vision to develop a continent-wide energy system

. It was conceived as a priority project for the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). The Southern African Development Community (SADC), which includes the DRC, East Africa Power Pool (EAPP) and ESKOM, the largest supplier of electricity of Africa, were part of Grand Inga's vision. The most interesting question is perhaps that of why Grand Inga is at a standstill, but it is a big question in itself, for another day

David Himbara is a Rwandan Canadian, professor of International Development at Centennial College of Canada. author of " Economic Mirage of Kagame " and " Kagame's Killing Fields ." In March 2017, he received the prize Victory Ingabire Umuhoza for Democracy and Peace . He can be reached at [email protected] .

Ann Garrison is a freelance journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2014, she was awarded the Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza Award for Democracy and Peace for her reporting on conflicts in the Great Lakes region of Africa. She can be reached at [email protected] .

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