The Rwandan government signed an agreement with a German-Canadian start-up on Tuesday September 12 to build a civil nuclear reactor “experimental” in order to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. The reactor will be ready for testing in 2026, according to Dual Fluid, the start-up that will build it.
These “Reactors can be used to produce electricity, hydrogen and synthetic fuels at lower costs than fossil fuels”, said Dual Fluid CEO Götz Ruprecht during a press conference in Kigali. The use of nuclear energy will provide “a stable and reliable source of electricity by reducing dependence on hydrocarbons and helping to meet the growing demand for energy”declared the Minister of Infrastructure, Ernest Nsabimama.
Rwanda signed a deal in 2019 to build nuclear power plants in collaboration with Russia’s federal atomic energy agency, Rosatom, sparking strong opposition due to concerns over security.
Frank Habineza, leader of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda (opposition), judged ” dangerous “ the agreement made with Dual Fluid. “There is no big difference between what Dual Fluid Energy wants to do and what Russia and the Rwandan government wanted to do in 2019he told AFP. No study can convince me that there is a place in this country where a reactor or a nuclear power plant can be built without endangering the population. »
“Our test reactor is a small device with low combustion and therefore contains little nuclear material. For this reason, it poses no threat to the environment”assured the Rwandan Atomic Energy Office and Dual Fluid in a joint press release.
South Africa is the only country on the continent to have a civil nuclear program, with two reactors in service for more than thirty years.