Russia Wins 45 Percent of South Africa's Uranium Market

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was in talks with his counterpart from the South African Republic Jacob Zuma on August 5 regarding the cooperation in the nuclear field.

Despite the economic crisis, the commodity circulation between Russia and South African Republic last year increased from $400 to $500 million, news agencies said.

The two presidents signed a number of agreements as a result of the talks. Russia's Tehsnabexport and SA's Eskom Holdings Ltd. concluded an agreement for the delivery of uranium, enriched in Russia, to South Africa during 2011-2018. Uranium will be used as fuel for nuclear power plants.

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Sergey Kiriyenko, the head of Russia's Rosatom Atomic Agency said that the deal was about a large batch of nuclear fuel. The batch, the official added, was equal to 45 percent of the nuclear fuel market of the South African Republic. The contract is expected to cover ten percent of the whole foreign trade turnover between the two countries. Kiriyenko said that Moscow and Pretoria (the capital of the South African Republic) were also negotiating the construction of new nuclear power plants in South Africa with the participation of Russian specialists.

The South African Republic had been developing a military nuclear program since Apartheid, but subsequently refused from such activities. There is a nuclear power plant in the country, which is the only one nuclear power plant in Africa as a continent.

Russia is ready to enrich South Africa's uranium and send the fuel back to the country so that the latter could use the fuel for both internal and export needs.