Sudan, Russia agree to discuss joint cooperation on nuclear energy
December 7, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese and Russian governments Wednesday agreed to negotiate an agreement on the use of nuclear energy in the East African country .
The protocol was signed at the end of the fourth meeting of Russian-Sudanese inter-governmental commission for trade and economic cooperation in Moscow.
“The Russian State Corporation for Atomic Energy (Rosatom) along with Sudan’s Ministry of Water Resources, Irrigation and Electricity of the Republic are working on a draft memorandum of understanding for the peaceful use of nuclear energy that may be signed in 2017,” the protocol said.
According to the Russian news agency TASS, the memo “also noted that Rosatom was planning to hold an expert seminar in Sudan next year to discuss the prospects for bilateral cooperation”.
Since several years, Sudan announced it had plans to build a four- reactor nuclear power plant to fill the gap in power generation by 2030.
In May 2016, Sudan and China have signed a framework agreement to build a 600-megawatt atomic reactor.
Last Tuesday, Sudan’s Minister of Water Resources, Irrigation and Electricity told Sudanese lawmakers that Sudan will start preparing for building a 1200 Megawatts nuclear power plant in 2017.
The meeting of the Russian-Sudanese inter-governmental commission for trade and economic cooperation was chaired by Sergey Donskoy, Russia’s Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection and Sudan’s Minister of Minerals, Sadig al-Karori.
At the end of the joint Russian –Sudanese meetings, the two ministers have signed agreements on minerals, agriculture, energy, health, education, oil and gas.
Russia is working to increase the commercial exchange with Sudan to reach $ 20 billion in the coming six years, Donskoy told reporters at the end of the joint Russia- Sudan meetings.
On his part, Minister al-Karori pointed that cooperation between Russia and Sudan could further increase to serve the interest of the two nations, saying that the two countries have set up a joint council to develop the economic relation between the two countries.
“Sudan is keen to involve Russia in Atlantis-II Project, which aims to jointly exploit Red Sea natural resources with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” he said.
In 2010, the Canadian Diamond Fields International and Saudi Manafa International Ltd. were licensed by the Saudi Sudanese Committee to conduct exploration activities in Red Sea rift valley.
In a feasibility study conducted in 2012, Diamond Fields International expected that Saudi Arabia and Sudan will make big profits from the extraction of copper, silver and zinc from Red Sea bed. At the time, it expected to start production in 2014 once technical studies are completed.
(ST)