KIGALI, Rwanda
The Rwandan government signed an agreement on Tuesday with a Canadian-German startup to build an “experimental” nuclear reactor, saying it would help reduce use of fossil fuels in the African nation.
The reactor will be ready for
testing in 2026, according to Dual Fluid Energy, the startup responsible for
building the prototype.
“The new reactors can be used
to produce electricity, hydrogen, and synthetic fuels at costs below those of
fossil fuels,” the company’s CEO Goetz Ruprecht told reporters in Kigali.
Rwanda’s Minister of
Infrastructure Ernest Nsabimana said the use of nuclear power would provide “a
stable and reliable source of electricity, reducing dependence on fossil fuels
and helping to meet growing energy demands.”
“Incorporating nuclear power
into our energy mix will diversify the sources of energy, enhance energy
security and reduce vulnerability to supply disruptions,” he added.
Rwanda previously signed an
agreement in 2019 to set up nuclear plants in collaboration with Russia’s
nuclear agency Rosatom, sparking furious opposition over perceived safety
risks.
The president of the country’s
main opposition Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, Frank Habineza, told AFP the
deal between the government and Dual Fluid Energy was “dangerous”.
There “is no big difference
between what Dual Fluid Energy wants to do (and) what Russia and the government
of Rwanda agreed to do in 2019”, he said.
“There is no survey that can
convince me that there is a place in this country where a nuclear reactor or a
nuclear plant can be built without putting the people at risk.”
The Rwanda Atomic Energy Board
and Dual Fluid Energy said their plans posed no threat to the population or the
environment.
“Our test reactor is a small
device with a low burn-up and therefore little radioactive material inside. For
this reason too, it poses no threat to the environment,” they said in a joint
statement.
“Even in an extreme scenario
where the reactor and building were destroyed under massive force, little
radioactive material would be released.”
South Africa is the only
country in Africa to have a civil nuclear programme, with two reactors in
service for more than 30 years. They produce 1,860 megawatts, or about four
percent of the country’s total energy.
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