Rosatom, ready to empower Africa.

Posted on : Friday , 17th April 2015

Global nuclear giant Rosatom incorporates more than 350 companies worldwide and includes civil nuclear companies that specialize in power generation and nuclear fuel production, nuclear and radiation safety complex facilities, fundamental and applied science, nuclear medicine organizations, as well as the world’s only nuclear-propelled fleet of ice breakers.

Rosatom is extremely unique in that it is currently the only company able to offer an integrated solution that covers the entire nuclear value chain, starting with extraction and enrichment of uranium up to and including the management and reprocessing of spent fuel and waste, from the building of NPP’s to the management thereof and finally through to the decommissioning stage.

Rosatom Key Figures:

• ·         Is the largest generating company in Russia which produces more than 40% of electricity in the country’s European regions.
• ·         Is currently building more nuclear power plants simultaneously across the globe than any other company in history, 29 in total.
• ·         Is the largest player on the market of uranium enrichment services globally.
• ·         Holds the world’s second largest uranium reserves.
• ·         Has presence on five continents and over 40 countries.
• ·         Has a 100 bln USD portfolio and includes orders for NPP construction, supplying of nuclear fuel and related nuclear products and technologies.

Rosatom’s Water-Water Power Reactor (VVER) is at the forefront of nuclear technology. The Generation 3+ reactor has the highest level of internal safety which is achieved through passive and active safety systems and meets all international safety standards and IAEA requirements. All Russian designed reactors including 37 VVER units operating outside of Russia, successfully passed stress-tests exceeding global standards, among those are 18 VVER units operating in five EU countries.

Rosatom has a long and successful history of mutually beneficial cooperation in Africa, the company has not only supplied enriched uranium to Africa’s only Nuclear Power Plant Koeberg since 2010 but also provides educational and research support in nuclear science under a cooperation agreement with the North-West University of South Africa.

Rosatom plans to partner with local companies to create a full-scale nuclear cluster, of world class standards in South Africa, from the front-end of nuclear fuel cycle up to the engineering and manufacturing of complex power equipment. In future this will allow South African companies to implement joint nuclear power projects in not only Africa but globally. The company is also committed to the highest possible level of localisation and according to its first assessment this could reach as high as 60% on the final units and create as many as 15 000 direct jobs and 150 000 indirect jobs in related industries.

The company has most recently been engaged in talks with Nigeria to build as many as four nuclear power plants as Africa’s biggest economy seeks to add 1,200 megawatts of new capacity by the end of the decade.  The West African nation signed an agreement with Rosatom to cooperate on the design, construction, operation and decommissioning of its first facility in 2012. A further three nuclear plants are envisioned by the Nigerian side, bringing total capacity up to 4,800 megawatts by 2035.