The governments of Ethiopia and Russia have entered into an agreement to cooperate on a program that will see the construction of a nuclear power station in the East African country within the next ten years.
The agreement was signed by Alexey Likhachev, Rosatom’s director general and Getahun Mecuria Kuma, Ethiopia’s Minister of Innovation and Technology on the sidelines of the recently held Russia—Africa summit and economic forum in Sochi.
Also Read: US $190m allocated for Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant project in Egypt
Terms of the agreement
The Russians, as per this agreement will help to develop the foundations for an Ethiopian nuclear industry, including the writing of safety regulations and establishing storage facilities for nuclear fuel and waste.
According to the agreement, the two sides will form a committee to draft a list of projects whose centerpiece will be a 3GW nuclear plant, and reactors to create radioactive isotopes for medical, agriculture and research purposes.
On a press release, Rosatom noted that the agreement would “serve as a catalyst for active dialogue between the two countries” and would create “a legal framework for cooperation in a wide range of sectors and for the implementation of selected joint projects”.
The agreement may as well, in the long run, lead to the construction of an Ethiopian Centre for Nuclear Science and Technology.
Nuclear deals between Rosatom and other African countries
This agreement follows a memorandum of understanding (MoU) inked back in 2017. It is also one of the nuclear deals between Rosatom and some African nations which are Egypt, South Africa, Rwanda, Uganda and Ghana, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The most advanced of all is the US $29bn Dabaa nuclear power plant in Egypt. For the others, the framework agreements have just been concluded. During the Sochi conference, Russia agreed to allocate US $190m to the 4.8GW Dabaa plant.
