Russia, Namibia mull nuclear plant

KODE PPC ANDA

Three Russian firms, Techsnabexport, Renova and Vneshtorgbank, have established a joint venture to produce uranium and possibly establish a nuclear plant in Namibia, media reports said here Monday.

Renova had won a tender to develop two uranium deposits in Namibia whilst Russia's state-run trade bank Vneshtorgbank had been awarded a licence earlier, the reports quoted Russian natural resources minister Yury Trutnev as saying.
Officials from both Namibia and Russian firms said that they are mulling co-operation in establishing a nuclear power plant to help alleviate electricity shortages in Namibia and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.

"Our enterprises, Renova and Vneshtorgbank, already hold licenses to produce uranium in Namibia. We agreed to found a joint venture to prospect and produce uranium,” Sergei Kiriyenko, an official of the joint venture said after meeting Namibian president Hifikepunye Pohamba last Friday.
"We are ready to produce electric power together and sell it together," Kiriyenko said.

Namibian Prime Minister Nahas Angula hinted that his country and Russia are discussing the possibility of nuclear technology to cater for Namibia's electricity requirements.
"The Russian side said there are a number of available technologies, one of them being nuclear," Angula said after meeting the Russian officials.

The semi-arid southwest African country, Namibia, has huge deposits of the highly prized uranium. Mines minister Erkki Nghimtina said that Namibia was also looking forward to get expertise from Russia to draw up a uranium mining policy. This comes weeks after the Namibian government banned the issuing of new uranium licenses.

The Namibian government has been swarmed with applications for uranium licenses during the past years, with more than 20 international firms awarded exploration licenses to scour for the mineral in the country's vast deserts.
Currently Rossing Uranium and Langer Heinrich are mining uranium whilst two more firms, Valencia and Trekkopje could come on stream in the next two years.

source news : africa-interactive.net

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