Rosatom – praag.org

Rosatom confident about SA nuclear deal

Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom believes it is a strong candidate for getting its bid to build eight nuclear reactors for South Africa approved.

“Rosatom is a world leader in nuclear power provision, with its technology operating successfully in many developed and emerging markets,” said Viktor Polikarpov, Rosatom regional vice-president, Sub-Saharan Africa.

“We believe that this unmatched expertise sets us apart and makes us confident in the competitive capacity of our offer.”

This follows Rosatom’s signing of two ‘memoranda of understanding’ (MOU) documents with South Africa’s Department of Energy at the 7th BRICS summit in Ufa, Russia earlier this week.

The documents are a memorandum on cooperation in training personnel for the South African nuclear power industry and a memorandum on cooperation in Enhancement of Public Awareness of Nuclear Energy in South Africa.

Source: eNCA

SA, Russia sign energy pact

South Africa and Russia signed two memoranda of understanding on nuclear power co-operation on Wednesday, part of efforts by Africa’s most advanced economy to lessen its reliance on coal and overcome power shortages that threaten economic growth.

The agreements, signed at the summit of emerging Brics nations in Ufa, Russia, are between Russia’s state-run nuclear energy company Rosatom and South Africa’s Department of Energy. They call for joint projects to educate and encourage “public acceptance of nuclear power” in South Africa, the South African Department of Energy said in a statement.

They will also include programmes for training specialists in South Africa’s nuclear industry.

South Africa is considering using reactors from Russia’s Rosatom and Westinghouse for its planned 9 600 MW nuclear fleet expansion, an energy advisor to the government said in June.

The country plans to build six new nuclear power plants by 2030 at an estimated cost of between R400 billion and R1 trillion.

Critics contend South Africa cannot afford the price tag against the backdrop of rising debt and sluggish economic growth, which is constrained by power shortages that trigger periodic rolling blackouts.

The government has said South Africa needs to not only expand its capacity, but also diversify its power mix from coal, which provides over 85 percent of the country’s energy needs.

Source: Reuters

Nuclear trainees head for China

Fifty South African trainees are heading for China for a a 4-month nuclear power plant operations training.

Department of Energy spokesperson Johannes Mokobane told Fin 24 the first group comprises employees from the SA energy industry including the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (Necsa), Eskom nuclear energy supplier Koeberg, Eskom and the Department of Trade and Industry (dti).

“The programme represents the first phase of an extensive programme which hopes to draw students from South Africa’s tertiary institutions in the near future.

“In the next phase we plan to send 250 participants to China to be trained at various levels,” he said.

The training will take place at the Shanghai Jiao Tong and Tsinghua Universities following a skills development co-operation agreement signed in support of SA’s nuclear new build programme between Necsa and Chinese State Nuclear Power Technology Company.

According to the Department of Energy the training will be in the form of lectures as well as tours to some of China’s nuclear facilities.

Trainees will receive lectures in a variety of topics including nuclear safety regulatory system, nuclear island system equipment, codes and safety oversight, steam power conversion system, material science, conventional island system equipment, thermodynamics and basis of reactor thermal hydraulics, radiation protection, instrumentation and control theories, water chemistry, operation theories, and nuclear safety culture.

In September 2014 Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson reportedly signed a deal for SA to get up to eight nuclear reactors from Russia.

The power cooperation deal with Russia, through the state nuclear firm Rosatom, would pave the way for the building of nuclear power plants providing up to 9.6GW (8 NPP units) of nuclear power based on Russian technology by 2030.

Reuters reported at the time that China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding was also among the companies showing interest in securing the nuclear deal.

Mokobane declined to comment when asked whether the training agreement is an indication that China will have a role in supplying SA with nuclear power.

South Africa has already signed agreements on nuclear issues with Russia, China, South Korea and France. Agreements with the United States, Canada and Japan were also under consideration.

Russia may build 24 nuclear power stations in India

A new road map on cooperation in the nuclear industry planned as Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Delhi on Thursday

Russia may build 20-24 nuclear power units in India against 14-16 units agreed previously, the Times of India reported Monday, citing Russia’s ambassador Alexander Kadakin.

The new road map on the countries’ cooperation in the nuclear industry can be formed during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Delhi on Thursday.

“We have big plans for nuclear energy cooperation,” Kadakin said, addressing a news conference ahead of Putin’s visit. “Russia had agreed to help India build 14-16 nuclear units. Now it seems that demand of India is much bigger and this may rise to 20-24 units.”

The countries plan to start negotiations for the construction of a fifth and sixth units at the Kudankulam nuclear plant soon, he also said. An agreement on the construction of the plant’s third and fourth units will be signed during Putin’s visit, he also said.

Russian nuclear power corporation Rosatom’s unit Atomstroyexport is building the Kudankulam plant in India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu under a contract signed in 1988. The plant’s first unit was launched in July 2013, while the construction of the second unit is currently at the final stage.

Source: Itar-TASS

Nuclear meets showbiz

While engineers from French nuclear company Areva argued with trade unionists, and its representatives all but besieged key Eskom employees, Rosatom flew two South African teenagers to a resort on the coast of the Black Sea, tutored them in musical theatre and then took them on tour.

Nuclear Kids, or just NucKids, is a musical theatre group.

The children of nuclear workers were initially only from Russia’s “closed” nuclear cities, the Soviet-era sites where much of the modern Rosatom’s work is still done, but now include some from a small group of partner countries.

They are auditioned, trained by experts and celebrities, and then put on a full-blown musical.

In 2012, the group included the daughters of employees of the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa, including some who worked on the nuclear reactor at Pelindaba. Another South African teenager joined the 2013 group.

Cosatu said in a statement this week: “The federation has a congress resolution emphatically rejecting nuclear power as a solution and therefore objects in principle to its use. It is alarmed at the speed at which this decision has apparently been taken, with no public discussion on such an important and controversial topic, and also the secrecy surrounding it.”

It hinted the nuclear programme could go down the same route as the multibillion-rand arms deal. “In the aftermath of the arms deal controversy, it is more important than ever that there should be total transparency so we can be certain that the Public Finance Management Act is fully adhered to.”

Source: M&G

Zille rips into nuclear deal

DA leader Helen Zille said on Monday the deal South Africa made with Russia for the supply of up to eight nuclear power plants means “someone is up to no good”.

Zille vented her anger in her weekly SA Today newsletter against President Jacob Zuma.

In a strongly-worded criticism of the president, she accused him of “plundering” the fiscus.

Zille ignored the rumours of fraud, corruption, racketeering and money laundering, stemming from various deals in which British darling and Boerehater Thabo Mebki and his followers are implicated.

Instead she blamed Zuma for all South Africa’s ills.

“The idea of up to a trillion rand changing hands on his say-so must be simply too good to pass over for a man with his track record. With his time at the helm running out, this Rosatom deal could be the ultimate windfall,” she said without blinking.

Britain has traditionally regarded South Africa as their piggy bank.

The co-operation agreement – to supply as many as eight nuclear plants generating up to 9.6GW of power – was announced last Monday.

South Africa’s energy department and Russia’s atomic energy agency Rosatom made the announcements.

Government has denied reports that Zuma interfered in the nuclear deal with Russia, or that he had instructed Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson to sign it.

“The department wishes to refute all allegations of ‘undue influence’ by the president towards concluding this agreement,” acting director general Wolsey Barnard said in a statement at the weekend.

He said such allegations were “baseless and at worst ludicrous, and they are purely concocted in order to tarnish the image and integrity of the president and the government of South Africa”.

Zille warned that should the deal go through, it would destroy the economy.

“How on earth does South Africa spend a trillion rand without wrecking our economy and propelling millions of people further into poverty?”

The National Development Plan and the Integrated Resource Plan have both cautioned against the expansion.

There was no way the South African economy could survive such a deal, Zille said.

“We need affordable solutions [to the country’s energy crisis] in the short to medium-term, not a trillion rand ‘legacy’ white elephant that our grandchildren will still be paying off.”

Finland, Turkey get Russian VVER1200 NPP

These latest design VVER1200 NPP’s have 60 year life span, with 20% reduction in build cost and time, and 10% reduction in operating cost. Turkey ordered 4 of these NPPs. Same process as SA: State deal subsequently approved by parliament. Russia to finance, built, own, operate and transfer option after 15 years. Russia buys back … Continue reading “Finland, Turkey get Russian VVER1200 NPP”

These latest design VVER1200 NPP’s have 60 year life span, with 20% reduction in build cost and time, and 10% reduction in operating cost.

Turkey ordered 4 of these NPPs. Same process as SA: State deal subsequently approved by parliament. Russia to finance, built, own, operate and transfer option after 15 years. Russia buys back spent fuel for processing.

In Finland one Russian VVER 1200 NPP will be build near Tornio – Outokumpu has 12% share in the planned NPP.

During 2014 Outokumpu said its investment in Fennovoima VVER1200 NPP, to be paid over the next decade, would be around 210 million euros, compared with its earlier estimate of around 150 to 200 million euros. (Nearly 3 billion Rand for the 12% share.)

The company’s stainless steel plants in Tornio, including 540 000t/y of FeCr-production, are the single largest consumer of electricity in Finland.

“We want to ensure a stable, predictable and low-carbon energy source at production cost to our operations in Finland,” Chief Executive Mika Seitovirta said in a statement on Wednesday. (19 February 2014)

Eight VVER1200 NPP’s are planned for South-Africa, near Jeffreys Bay, Gansbaai and Koeberg in Cape Town. Currently transmission losses from Mpumalanga to coastal cities in the Cape run at around 12%.

The real controversy surrounding the Russian-SA NPP agreement, refers to SA’s intention to again enrich uranium at Pelindaba near Pretoria for local NPP fuel production. South-Africa and Namibia, governed as a former province of South-Africa, have large uranium reserves. Uranium enrichment and nuclear fuel production, although legal under the NPT, can supply a country with a break-out capability to produce bombs.

NECSA was also to produce the TRISO fuel for Eskom’s Pebble Bed Modular Reactor at Pelindaba.

During June 2014, the Indonesian government approached the South-African government for PBMR technology. After conducting a levelized evaluation of various NPP’s, Indonesia’s nuclear authority came to the conclusion that Eskom’s PBMR is the safest and lowest cost option for Indonesia.

The Eskom PBMR direct-cycle helium turbo-generator (from Mitsubishi) runs at 45% efficiency as compared to 34% of conventional NPPs. The Eskom PBMR was of 160MW capacity per module, and could also be build inland , for exmple in Middelburg, as unlike conventional NPPs, it does not require (sea) water cooling

During 2009 Eskom refused to become the anchor client for 60 of its own PBMR plants totaling 9 600MW. Thus during same year the construction of the first direct cycle (no water-steam circuit) PBMR in Cape Town by Murrey & Roberts and SNC Lavalin was halted. The R300m reactor pressure vessel had already been manufactured in Spain near the port of Santander. Currently this PBMR reactor vessel is lying at Saldanha Bay. The other major contracts with Mitsubishi and SGL Carbon were also cancelled.

During 2013 the then Minister of State-Owned-Enterprises and Eskom, Mr Melusi Gigaba was in Middelburg and answered a question about the possibility of the state reviving local technology and industry, in chosing PBMR instead of conventional NPP. The minister answered that only four PBMR engineers were still in state employment, and that their contracts were to expire during 2013. The minister then proceeded to announce that heads would roll if Medupi power station did not start-up end-2013.

Mr O’ Flaharty, then CFO of Eskom, is now CEO of Arcelor Mittal South-Africa. Mr Brian Dames left the employment of Eskom after a two decade career. Mr Gigaba, second on the ANC’s NEC-list and once mooted as South-Africa’s crown prince, is
now minister of Home Affairs.

During February 2014, the veteran financial reporter at Business Day, David Gleason passed away. Gleason predicted that Russia would win the South-African nuclear build contract, and that as a result prized Russian assets in South-Africa would then experience a change in ownership.

Norilsk Nickel has put up for sale its 50% share in the rich and highly profitable Nkomati Nickel mine not far from Middelburg, Mpumalanga. First option to refuse belongs to South-African ARM. It remains to be seen who will soon own this valuable asset.

Zuma signed Russian nuclear deal

President Jacob Zuma personally negotiated with Russian President Vladimir Putin to have Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation build nuclear power stations worth R1-trillion in South Africa, the Mail and Guardian reported.

According to the report, President Zuma had started the process directly with Putin at July’s Brics summit in Brazil and then finalised the details of the nuclear pact during his surprise trip to Moscow last month.

The Mail and Guardian quoted a senior ANC leader and a well-placed ANC MP as its sources.

The ANC members said that President Zuma had instructed Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson to sign the deal with the Russians at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) conference in Vienna.

The president told his trusted ministers and MPs of the deal.

The nuclear R1-trillion deal was announced on Monday by both Rosatom and the department of energy. The department though has since said the the deal had not yet been finalised.

Minister Joemat-Pettersson has been summoned to appear before Parliament’s energy portfolio committee.

The Democratic Alliance has called for the details of the deal to be made public in order to try and exploit it politically.

Nuclear trumps shale and gas

The signing in Vienna – at the margins of the 58th session of the International Atomic Energy Agency General Conference – of a strategic nuclear partnership between Russia and South Africa, has met with criticism from the mining sector.

The agreement lays the foundation for a large-scale nuclear power plant procurement and development programme of South Africa based on the construction of new nuclear power plants with Russian VVER reactors with a total installed capacity of up to 9,6 GW or 8 units.

These will be the first based on the Russian technology to be built on the African continent.

The signed agreement provides for comprehensive collaboration in other areas of nuclear power, including the construction of a Russian-technology based multipurpose research reactor, assistance in the development of South African nuclear infrastructure, and education of South African nuclear specialists.

The creation of new highly-skilled workplaces will also allow South African companies to further participate in Rosatom’s projects in third countries.

South Africa’s industry will become dependent on sources other than shale and coal, critics say. While industry and certain role players obsess about shale and gas, Mozambique’s gas resources will also need expensive infrastructure.

The questionable benefits that shale gas might offer, will be short-lived, unlike nuclear.

This agreement would naturally limit South Africa’s importation of energy from Namibia or Mozambique.

Also, this will probably mean an end to preferential electricity contracts that offer power at a rate far below the level other industrial users pay, to companies like BHP Billiton.

The R9,5bn lost in embedded derivatives, as reported by Eskom, is the cost of the remaining time on these preferential electricity contracts, some of which still have years to run.

Other energy sources will be hydroelectric power from the future Inga III dam in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

South Africa’s nuclear power ambitions had attracted several proposals.

French group Areva, which built South Africa’s only nuclear plant at Koeberg, had proposed to provide the country with its new generation of EPR reactors.

Government had also solicited an offer from the US-Japanese group Westinghouse.

SA and Russia sign nuclear agreement

Russia and South Africa have signed an intergovernmental agreement on strategic partnership in nuclear energy sector opening the possibility of construction of nuclear reactors in the country using Russian technologies, state nuclear corporation Rosatom said Monday.

“The agreement creates a basis for the development of South Africa’s program on construction of nuclear power plants equipped with Russian VVER-type reactors with total generating capacity of up to 9.6 GWt (up to eight units),” a Rosatom spokesman told RIA Novosti.

“Those would be the first nuclear power plants on the African continent using Russian technology,” the official said.

South Africa currently has two nuclear reactors generating 5 percent of its electricity.

Russia will supply eight nuclear power units to South Africa until 2023 under the agreement signed in Vienna on Monday.

These will be the first nuclear power plants using Russian technology in Africa, with a combined capacity of 9.6 gigawatts.

“Rosatom is ready to assist South Africa in creating a world-class industrial cluster from the initial stage of the nuclear fuel cycle to engineering and production of equipment,” Rosatom Head Sergei Kiriyenko said at the signing ceremony held on the sidelines of the 58th session of the U.N. General Assembly of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

He said this would allow Russia and South Africa to carry out joint projects in third countries in the future. The project will also create thousands of new jobs and generate local contracts worth up to $10 billion.

Kiriyenko earlier evaluated the project at$40 billion to $50 billion.

Russia is also ready to provide a low-interest loan for the project.

Experts say that it will allow South Africa to build its own nuclear power industry, achieve 40%-60% localisation, create about 30,000 new jobs and bring in $16 billion in investment as well as $5 billion worth of budget revenue.

The South African government has determined three sites for building new nuclear power plants.

Source: RIA Novosti/ItarTASS

How Putin conquered South Africa

By Marin Katusa via Casey Research.

In the global war for energy supremacy, Russia has won another victory over the United States.

This time, the battleground has been South Africa, where Russia’s state-owned nuclear power company, Rosatom, has just signed an agreement to build eight new reactors. Once all of them are operational, South Africa’s nuclear capacity will increase more than sixfold – from 1.8 gigawatts (GW) to 11.4 GW over the next 15 years.

This means that Russia will help develop the entirety of South Africa’s nuclear energy sector, including financing and training.

And just as importantly, South Africa will be using Russia’s nuclear fuel.

Rosatom has been busy signing these types of deals with other foreign countries as well—Finland, Turkey, Ukraine, even the United Kingdom—which guarantees that Russia will be able to keep a stranglehold on these countries’ nuclear industries.

The strategy is clear: Rosatom is aiming to become the world’s largest supplier of uranium in the coming years.

Remember what we said about the ongoing “Putinization” of Europe’s oil and gas; how Russia is planning to leverage its control over Europe’s energy to gain political and economic benefits?

The same thing is happening in uranium, except the stakes are even higher—because Putin is now looking to dominate the global nuclear market.

Russia and the former Soviet nations (colloquially called “the -stans”) already control nearly half of the world’s uranium supply:

Note that the United States only controls 3% of global uranium supply—and less than 15% of the enrichment capacity, despite the fact that it’s the largest consumer of uranium in the world.

While nuclear energy powers one out of every five homes in America, the US currently imports more than 90% of the uranium required for its nuclear reactors.

So what happens when one day Rosatom says “Nyet” to the American utilities? You can be sure that they’ll be scrambling to find any source of uranium they can get their hands on.

And they’ll pay far more than the current spot price of US$34.50/lb. You should know that the price of uranium accounts for just 3% of the total costs of a nuclear power plant, so whether the utilities pay $100 or even $200 per pound of yellowcake is irrelevant, as long as they can keep the reactors running and the lights on in America.

As the US and other countries scramble to get out from under Putin’s heavy thumb, for the right uranium producers outside of Russia’s sphere of influence, this will be a bonanza for the history books.

Rosatom due to sign SA nuclear agreement in 2014

Rosatom, or the Russian Atomic Energy Agency is prepared to build nuclear power plants in South Africa and set up research centres to train personnel.

South Africa’s NPP project is estimated at 40 billion dollars to 50 billion dollars. Eight power generating units with more than one GW of power capacity each are due to be built under the project. Rosatom has offered assurances that in South Africa it will use its latest, – “post-Fukushima” – nuclear reactor safety systems.

“Rosatom boasts the latest nuclear power plant building technologies, just as several US and European corporations,” the Energy Development Fund Director Sergei Pikin said.

Russia and South Arica have already reached agreement to that end. Now the agreement should be declared legally valid. The contract is due to be signed on February 15th next year. Rosatom says it is prepared to co-fund the project. Also, Russia has the required resources to supply fuel for nuclear power plants to be built, says an analyst with the Veles Capital investment company Ayrat Khalikov.

“Traditionally, the organization that builds an NPP is due to supply nuclear fuel rods for it. In other words, if Russia builds a nuclear power plant somewhere, Russian uranium mines, as well as facilities that enrich uranium to turn it into fuel will also become involved,” Khalikov said.

Speaking of prospects for Rosatom’s cooperation with South Africa, and African countries in general, experts point out that Rosatom will have to withstand some pretty tough competition.

But Russia’s offer is more attractive, since Moscow is prepared to provide the full cycle of services, from drawing up a project plan to rendering the maintenance service of the plant. Also, the quality-price ratio is no small importance. Voice of Russia

Russia to give SA nuclear training input

Russia’s State Nuclear Power Corporation, Rosatom, which is busy positioning itself in case South Africa decides to build new nuclear power plants, has signed an agreement with North West University that will see it getting involved in training nuclear industry specialists for the country.

Rusatom Overseas, a Rosatom branch that specialises in the promotion of the corporation’s projects abroad, last week signed a memorandum of cooperation with North West University, the only institution in South Africa that offers postgraduate degrees in nuclear engineering.

The memorandum envisions the development of collaboration programmes in research, exchanges of experts, joint seminars and the writing of textbooks. A joint working group is to draw up a list of projects for collaboration.

“We are pleased to announce the signing of the MoU with our Russian colleagues,” said Professor Herman van Schalkwyk, rector of the Potchefstroom Campus of North West University. “We recognise that nuclear energy remains an important option for South Africa.

“The intention is to explore the potential for future collaboration, ranging from education to specific technical projects in nuclear engineering, hydrogen technologies, energy, etc.”

Jomart Aliyev, director-general of Rusatom Overseas, said the memorandum would promote the development of technical education in South Africa, while giving local researchers and scientists the opportunity to find out more about modern Russian technologies.

Joint research and scientific developments, he said, would “provide a solid foundation for the development of Rosatom’s business relations in South Africa”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said after a meeting with South African President Jacob Zuma in Sochi in May that Russia was ready to assist South Africa in building up a comprehensive nuclear power engineering industry.

South Africa’s Koeberg nuclear plant is the only nuclear power-generating facility on the African continent.

South Africa’s Integrated Resources Plan (IRP) for 2010 to 2030, a 20-year projection on the country’s electricity supply and demand, envisages 9 600 MW of additional nuclear capacity by 2030. The plan is due to be reviewed soon.

Speaking at the Africa Energy Indaba in Johannesburg in February, Energy Minister Dipuo Peters said South Africa planned to expand its use of nuclear power in a safe and secure way as a key part of the country’s move towards a diversified, low-carbon energy mix.

“If we are serious about diversification towards a low carbon economy, we cannot belittle the role that natural gas and nuclear power can play in the realisation of that 2030 low-carbon energy vision,” Peters said.

Rosatom is ranked fourth in the world for nuclear electricity generation, accounting for 17% of the world nuclear fuel market. It conducts 45% of the world’s uranium enrichment services, and is ranked the second in the world for uranium reserves and fourth for uranium production.

The company last year opened a marketing office in Johannesburg, only its third such office after Ukraine and Singapore, and sent a high-level delegation to Durban to take part in the 5th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit in March-April. – gov.za-Itar-Tass, with additional reporting by SAinfo