Russia has offered to help South Africa to develop its own nuclear industry from nuclear fuel production to power plant design and construction. Vladimir Putin has met South African president Jacob Zuma in Durban. The two leaders signed a joint declaration of a strategic partnership between the two countries, and witnessed the signing of a package of bilateral documents on cooperation in various fields, including a cooperation agreement on energy.
Putin's promise came days after South African vice president Kgalema Motlanthe spoke of South Africa's needs to develop a comprehensive nuclear program. Motlanthe described nuclear power as ideal for South Africa. At present, most of South Africa's coal-fired generation capacity is clustered in the north-eastern part of the country, necessitating long-distance transmission.
South Africa has two 900 MWe nuclear reactors at Koeberg, currently producing around 5% of its electricity. Government plans foresee at least 9600 MWe of new nuclear capacity by 2030.
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