Contract signed for uranium deliveries from Russia to South Africa in 2011-18
MOSCOW. Aug 5 (Interfax) - Russia and South Africa have signed a contract for uranium shipments from Russia to nuclear power plants in South Africa from 2011-18.
The contract was signed on Thursday by Russia's Techsnabexport (Tenex), the state exporter of nuclear materials and the South African company Eskom Holdings Ltd.
It crowned talks in the Kremlin between President Dmitry Medvedev and South African President Jacob Zuma.
Russia and South Africa also signed an agreement on visa-free travel for holders of diplomatic and service passports, as well as an agreement on cooperation in plant quarantine and a memorandum of understanding between the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, and the South African national space agency on cooperation in space monitoring of the Earth.
The first direct contract between Techsnabexport and Eskom for the delivery of uranium to the Koeberg Nuclear Power Plant was signed 15 years ago. It is close to its expiration date.
The Koeberg Nuclear Power Plant with two 900-megawatt reactors is the only nuclear power plant in South Africa and in Africa as a whole. It was built in 1984-85 by the French company Framatome, now Areva. It accounts for 5% of electricity in the country's energy balance.