The first of six replacement steam generators for South Africa's only operating nuclear power plant have arrived at the Koeberg site, plant owner and operator Eskom has announced. Steam generator replacement is part of a ZAR20 billion (USD1.2 billion) programme to extend by 20 years the operating life of the two-unit plant.

South Africa's Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has issued a Request for Information to enable it to assess nuclear technologies that could be considered for a national programme to build 2500 MWe of new nuclear capacity. The programme could include conventional pressurised water reactors, small modular reactors or a blend of technologies.

The Nuclear Industry Association of South Africa has outlined six potential options for financing new nuclear power plants in the country. Last week, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe told a parliamentary committee he would be willing to look at innovative funding options as his department begins the process to develop 2500 MWe of new nuclear capacity.

South Africa's Department of Mineral Resources and Energy is to begin work on a roadmap for the procurement of 2500 MWe of new nuclear capacity. It will consider "all options" including small modular reactor projects led by private companies and consortia, Minister Gwede Mantashe told the country's Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources and Energy on 7 May.

Electricity generation is vital in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but scheduled refuelling and maintenance outages at nuclear power plants around the world must still go ahead. Operators are introducing risk-minimising procedures so outages that have been planned years in advance can proceed, while some are being prompted to rethink or extend scheduled outages.

Australian-based exploration company Lotus Resources Ltd has completed the acquisition of the Kayelekera Uranium Mine in Malawi from Paladin Energy. The mine produced 10.9 million pounds of uranium (4193 tU) from 2009 to 2014 but has been on care and maintenance since then.

South African utility Eskom yesterday published a request for an Expression of Interest in reviving all or parts of the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor project. It is seeking investors to take stakes in PBMR Ltd, the development and deployment of the reactor design, and in TRISO fuel manufacturing.

The Ethiopian government is receiving support from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and other development partners to address its urgent need for improvement in cancer treatment. The IAEA recommends four radiotherapy machines per one million people, but Ethiopia has only one for its population of 105 million.

Speaking to African heads of state and representatives from Russian, African, and international business and government agencies, Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachov yesterday emphasised the benefits of nuclear energy in job creation and regional economic development. At the Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi, Russia, Likhachov said global inequality in technological, industrial and socio-economic development was "acutely felt" in Africa.

Ethiopia and Russia today signed an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy during the Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi. The document was signed by Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachov and Ethiopian Minister of Innovation and Technology Getahun Mekuria.

The operation of the Koeberg nuclear power plant will be extended by 20 years and a nuclear new build programme will be launched as part of South Africa's energy plans for the next decade. The plans were approved yesterday by the country's government.

An International Atomic Energy Agency team of experts yesterday completed a review of the long-term operational safety of South Africa's two-unit Koeberg nuclear power plant. The team assessed the plant's preparedness, organisation and programmes related to long-term operation against IAEA safety standards.