Global body stands ready to help African countries adopt nuclear power

The director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Yukio Amano, on Wednesday reaffirmed his organisation's readiness to help African countries adopt nuclear energy, if they wish to. "Your country [South Africa] is the only established user of nuclear power [in Africa]. Other countries are very interested in using nuclear power," he said in answer to a question from Engineering News Online. He cited Kenya, Egypt and Nigeria as examples. "If they decide to use it, we're helping to use it sustainably, safely." The IAEA had a 19-step guidance document for countries wanting to adopt nuclear power. This is not mandatory but is, he pointed out, very useful. It includes information on what international conventions a country has to join, what regulations have to be adopted, how to select sites for nuclear power plants (NPPs) and how to select vendors of NPPs. The IAEA can also send missions to help countries assess themselves on their readiness for nuclear power.