Rwanda (Commonwealth) _ Rwanda’s atomic energy authority announced on Tuesday that the East African country and a Canadian-German business named Dual Fluid Energy Inc had agreed to develop a test nuclear reactor utilizing new technology.
The reactor will use a new approach developed by the startup business that uses liquid fuel and lead coolant, resulting in less radioactive waste, according to a statement from the Rwanda Atomic Energy Board.
The demonstration reactor is scheduled to be operational by 2026, with subsequent testing of the Dual Fluid technology likely to be completed by 2028. According to Dual Fluid CEO Goetz Ruprecht, the test phase will cost 70 million euros ($75 million) and will be financed by the company.
Rwanda now has an installed capacity of 332.6 megawatts (MW), the majority of which comes from hydroelectric dams and the remainder from methane, solar, and peat. Only South Africa now has an active nuclear power plant, while Russia’s state-owned energy business Rosatom began building of Egypt’s first nuclear facility last year.
Uganda announced in March that it aimed to generate at least 1,000 MW of nuclear power by 2031. The Rwanda Atomic Energy Board said it and Dual Fluid had agreed on a timeline for putting the test reactor into operation after the testing were completed.
Once the success requirements are met, both parties will go on to the next level of technological preparation, which will include testing of the nuclear power plant design, construction, and operations based on the experiment results, according to the statement.
The proposed “experimental” nuclear reactor between the Rwandan government and a Canadian-German firm would help lessen the African country’s reliance on fossil fuels. According to Dual Fluid Energy, the business responsible for creating the prototype, the reactor will be ready for testing in 2026.
According to the company’s CEO, Goetz Ruprecht, the new reactors may be used to produce energy, hydrogen, and synthetic fuels at lower costs than fossil fuels.
Ernest Nsabimana, Rwanda’s Minister of Infrastructure, stated that nuclear power would provide a secure and reliable supply of electricity, lowering reliance on fossil fuels and assisting in meeting rising energy demands.
Including nuclear power in our energy mix will diversify our energy sources, improve energy security, and minimize our vulnerability to supply disruptions, he noted. Rwanda earlier inked a deal in 2019 to build nuclear power reactors in conjunction with Russia’s nuclear agency Rosatom, provoking outrage over alleged safety hazards.
Frank Habineza, president of Rwanda’s main opposition Democratic Green Party, told AFP that the contract between the government and Dual Fluid Energy was “dangerous.”
He claims that there is no significant difference between what Dual Fluid Energy plans to achieve and what Russia and Rwanda’s government promised to do in 2019. There is no survey that can persuade me that there is a location in this country where a nuclear reactor or a nuclear power plant can be erected without endangering the people.
According to the Rwanda Atomic Energy Board and Dual Fluid Energy, their plans pose no risk to the population or the environment. Our test reactor is a compact, low-burn-up device with little radioactive material within, he said.
As a result, it poses no environmental risk, they declared in a joint statement. Even if the reactor and building were demolished by enormous force, very little radioactive material would be discharged.
South Africa is the only African country with a civil nuclear program, with two reactors in operation for more than 30 years. They approximately generate 1,860 megawatts, or around 4% of total energy production in the country.
