Kenya Could Be First In Africa To Use China’s Hualong One, Says IEA Report

6 Jul (NucNet): Kenya could be one of the first countries in Africa to import the Chinese-designed Hualong One reactor, although this may not occur in the short or medium term, the International Energy Agency says in a report published today. The report, ‘Boosting the Power Sector in Sub-Saharan Africa: China’s Involvement’, says after South Africa, Kenya seems to be the country in Africa most actively planning a nuclear power future. In 2015, China signed agreements with Kenya to assist in its nuclear power ambitions. The report says China is willing to help Kenya in capacity building and will provide technical support with site selection and feasibility studies. But it says the affordability, sustainability and feasibility of nuclear power projects in Africa have been “controversial internationally”. South Africa is the only country with nuclear power in sub-Saharan Africa. According to the IEA South Africa has two nuclear reactors responsible for generating around five percent of its electricity. Economic growth is partly constrained by power shortages, so the South African government has decided to pursue “extensive plans” to add 9.6 GW of nuclear generation capacity across the country by 2030 at a cost of between $37bn (€33bn) and $100bn. China has signed MoUs with South Africa to develop skills and strategic partnerships, but Russia, France, the US, Canada, South Korea and Japan have also already done so or are preparing similar agreements. China and South Africa specifically extended their nuclear co-operation in 2014. The report says that agreement initiated the preparatory phase for possible use of Chinese technology, and China has started training South African experts in nuclear plant operations. The report is online: http://bit.ly/29naSFv