As the second unit at the Koeberg nuclear power plant goes offline for an extended maintenance outage, South Africa's Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has confirmed it will go ahead with the procurement of 2500 MWe of new nuclear capacity with plans to issue requests for proposals by March 2024.

The pressurised water reactor was synchronised to the South African energy grid on 18 November after nearly a year offline for the replacement of the plant's three original steam generators, a prerequisite for the long-term operation of the plant.

World Nuclear Association and the African Commission on Nuclear Energy have signed a memorandum of understanding to support the economic growth and sustainable energy development of the African continent through the use of nuclear energy.

South African utility Eskom has announced that unit 1 at its Koeberg nuclear power plant, which has been undergoing a long-term outage for maintenance and steam generator replacement, is now expected to return to service on 3 November. The start of similar work at Koeberg 2 has been postponed to 7 November to ensure that both units are not off line at the same time.

The South African Nuclear Energy Corporation and Russia's TVEL have signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate in the manufacture of nuclear fuel and its components.

The Republic of Burundi and Russia have signed a memorandum of cooperation on peaceful uses of nuclear technology. It was signed as the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum takes place in St Petersburg.

Junior Australian uranium companies Lotus Resources Limited and A-Cap Energy Limited have agreed a merger to create "a leading African-focused uranium player with significant scale and resources".

In an interview for the World Nuclear News podcast Lassina Zerbo, the former head of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization and current chairman of the Rwanda Atomic Energy Board, set out his views on the prospects for nuclear energy in Africa in the years ahead.

The main interview is with Lassina Zerbo, who discusses the current situation, and the emerging future plans, for nuclear energy in Africa. There are also reports on China's molten salt reactor and the USA's HALEU fuel supply initiatives.

Stratek Global hopes to produce a pilot plant of the High Temperature Modular Reactor (HTMR-100), which is derived from the South African Pebble Bed Modular Reactor programme.

South Africa's power system is severely constrained with a high risk of increased stages of loadshedding as the nation heads into winter, Eskom said this week. Unit 1 at the Koeberg nuclear power plant is expected to return to service in September.

The African Commission on Nuclear Energy has launched a five-year programme, Uplifting Nuclear Safeguards in Africa, which will have support from the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority of Finland and funding from the European Union and Finland.