S Africa seeks Russia’s help in construction of new NPP

South Africa is in negotiation with Russia's state atomic energy corporation - Rosatom, for construction of new nuclear power plants in its territory. This was informed by Mandisi Mohalwa, ambassador of South Africa to Russian Federation and Belarus during a round table discussion titled "Russia - South Africa" held in Moscow recently, according to a statement.
Vusi Mweli, minister counsellor of the South Africa Embassy said that "at the moment there is only one nuclear power plant in South Africa. And we are in need of energy now. We asked Russia to help us with the construction of nuclear power plants".
Earlier this year Jacob Zuma, the president of Republic of South Africa (RSA) confirmed the commitment of his government to support the development of nuclear power in his country.
At the end of 2013 Rosatom signed a deal with the government of South Africa, under which Russia is expected to build 8 nuclear power reactors with capacity of 1,2GW each, at a cost of US$50 billion.
Koeberg NPP is the only nuke plant in South Africa. The plant is producing 5 per cent of the total electricity generated by the country. South Africa plans to increase the share of the nuclear energy up to 25 per cent.