CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA
Associated Press
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa has signed a deal with Russia to get up to eight nuclear reactors built with Russian technology.
The deal was signed on Monday on the sidelines of a conference of the U.N. atomic agency in Vienna, South Africa’s energy ministry said in a statement. It was signed by Tina Joemat-Pettersson, the South African energy minister, and Sergey Kirienko, director general of Rosatom, Russia’s state-owned nuclear company.
The South African statement said the project will be completed by 2030. It did not say how much it will cost.
South Africa already has two nuclear reactors that generate 6 percent of its electricity, according to the energy ministry. The country relies heavily on coal for its energy needs and its electrical grid is under severe strain.
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