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Sudan plans construction of first nuclear power plant

September 25, 2017 at 2:28 pm

Nuclear power plant [Tennessee Valley Authority/Wikipedia]

Khartoum entered discussions with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) yesterday about the completion of the first Sudanese nuclear plant which will receive technical support from the international organisation.

“A delegation from the General Directorate of Nuclear Generation of the Sudanese Ministry of Water Resources, Irrigation and Electricity met in Vienna with officials of the technical projects of the IAEA,” the official Sudanese news agency SUNA said.

According to SUNA, the meeting was attended by the Director General of the Sudanese Atomic Energy Commission, Abdelilah Musa, and the Secretary General of the National Radiological Control Agency, Mohamed El Hassan Abu-Udnin.

“Sudan is progressing well in building the manpower abilities, the governing of technical institutions, and the legal and legislative frameworks that enable it to meet the standards of the IAEA,” according to engineer Nassir Ahmed Al-Moustafa, director of the General Directorate for Atomic Generation Department of the Ministry of Electricity.

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Al-Moustafa praised the technical support provided by the IAEA to Sudan, which has largely contributed to the development of a roadmap towards the establishment of the first nuclear power plant, according to the criteria set by the agency for the peaceful uses of nuclear and atomic energy.

The Sudanese government said that the preliminary surveys to determine the location of the first nuclear plant have been completed and work on the detailed plans would begin by the end of the year.

In December 2016, the Minister of Water Resources, Irrigation and Electricity, Moataz Mousa told Parliament that 2017 would see the start of the construction of the country’s first nuclear plant which would generate 1,200 megawatts of electricity.

Last year Russia’s energy firm ROSATOM announced that it plans to sign a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in peaceful use of atomic energy with Sudan’s Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy this year.

In May 2016 the governments of Sudan and China signed a framework agreement for the construction of the east African country’s first nuclear power plant.