Tanzania will soon have the first nuclear power plant in East Africa following a move by South Areva South Africa, a member of the French multinational Areva group, to bid for its construction.

Currently, the country, which depends on hydropower plants to produce electricity, suffers from frequent power shortages.

Mohamed Madhi, chairman of Areva South Africa, told The EastAfrican in Dar es Salaam that the firm is seeking opportunities in East Africa to invest in nuclear power production.

Mr Madhi said Areva will produce clean energy in Tanzania through the construction of a nuclear power plant pending the conclusion of negotiations with the government.

“Areva is one of the companies that will be bidding for contracts to build nuclear energy capability in Tanzania,” he said.

Areva is the leading global nuclear energy company, with integrated capability across the full nuclear energy cycle from mining of uranium, to building power stations, to transmission and distribution of electricity and the recycling and disposal of nuclear waste.

According to Mr Madhi, South Africa is currently working on a capital expansion programme that will double its power generation capacity from the current 38,000MW to about 80,000MW.

“Nuclear is expected to form a significant portion of the energy mix in the projected capital expansion plan,” he said, adding that in the last capital expansion programme the government anticipated that nuclear would form over 30 per cent of the new-built programme.

According to Areva, nuclear is currently seen as a cost-effective, environmentally friendly and relevant development energy option. Globally, it says, there is a resurgence of interest in nuclear energy, referred to in the industry as the Nuclear Renaissance, driven by the growing demand for energy among the fast growing emerging economic powers, India and China.

It is also driven by the climate change issue, as the other “base-load” option — coal fired power stations — is increasingly seen as a carbon intensive. Mr Madhi said that the African continent has massive energy resources — uranium, solar, hydro, geothermal, coal and gas — which are underdeveloped.

However, experts at the Tanzania Atomic Energy Commission in Arusha say extensive preparations are needed before Tanzania can mine and process uranium.

Its director, Prof Idi Mkilaha, told The EastAfrican last week that, according to International Atomic Energy Agency, baseline studies to assess the current level of contamination need to be made. Besides the mining regulation, there are regulations on safety and safeguard matters to consider.

Asked about the generation of electricity from nuclear, Prof Mkilaha said mining uranium and electricity generation are two different things.

“Major steps towards nuclear power plant development involve energy planning and analysis to establish and predict the optimum energy mix for the country in the short and long term,” he noted.
Further steps include developing safeguards and nuclear regulatory framework and infrastructure, carrying out self-assessment in terms of the basic infrastructure for nuclear power development and implementation, and human resources capacity development in nuclear technology.

The country also needs to carry out stakeholder and community education on nuclear power plant development and its implications, identifying suitable and appropriate technology, site and nuclear power plant vendors, construction of the nuclear power plant, and finally, commissioning, monitoring and reviews for future development.

Prof Mkilaha said uranium investments can take between 10 and 20 years to start paying back, and as such, economic benefits must be planned carefully before any commitment is made.