Russian nuclear plant proposal for Namibia generates controversy

Russian PM offers uranium producer Namibia help in solving a looming power crisis with a small floating nuclear power plant – untried technology - which has created dissension within the country.

WINDHOEK  - 

When Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov visited Namibia mid-March he was full of ideas as on how the country could solve a looming energy crisis in the uranium-rich but perennial power importing southern African country.

Fradkov offered to assist the country in build a low capacity floating nuclear power plant (FNPP) - a new and untested technology - in a meeting with President Hifikepunye Pohamba, who later described the plan as a solution to self- sustaining electricity generation for Namibia.

"The power shortages affectssouthern Africa and we want our own power plant utilising our own (uranium) resources... We are pleased the Russian Federation wants to assist Namibia in this field," Pohamba was quoted as saying after the meeting with Fradkov.

To construct an FNPP, a site for the floating power unit has to be selected on coastal waters not far from the recipient of the power supply. The unit, which is powered by two reactors and accommodates engineering and amenity services, is then towed out to this site by a tug. The unit should be supported by compact onshore infrastructure - transformers, pumps, heat supply units.

A small plant has the capacity to supply energy for a town with a population of 200,000, as well as desalinating sea water to produce about 240,000 cubic meters of fresh water a day, according to Russian media reports of 2005.

The Russian offer could have been considered a noble idea in a country that is blessed with an ocean and abundant uranium, coming at a time when South Africa - the country's supplier of the bulk of its energy needs - has warned of shortfalls in supplies from August, as it struggles to satisfy the rising demand in that country.

The offer is now a subject of controversy as human rights and environmental groups question the reliability of Russian nuclear energy plans in the face of numerous accidents that have occurred in the European country.

Namibia's vocal human rights group, the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) has objected to the proposal accusing Russia of having a "poor nuclear safety record", amid concerns that Pohamba is ill-informed on the dangers of uranium mining and nuclear power stations.

The basis of our rejection of the proposed Russian nuke technology is from the environmental rights point of view and from a human security viewpoint," said NSHR executive Director Phil ya Nangoloh this week.

He added, "When the Russians are involved in these matters, then, what immediately comes to our minds are their nuclear catastrophes, such as the one at Chernobyl in 1986 and the several fire fiascos on board nuclear submarines, such as the Komsolets (in 1989), the Kurst (in 2000) and St. Daniil Moskovsky (in 2006)."

Bertchen Kohrs, Chairperson of environmental group Earthlife Namibia said the plan would put "coming generations into serious jeopardy" and called on the Namibian government to come up with safer and sustainable options like solar and wind energy.

"How would Namibia deal with a nuclear accident? The past shows that nuclear accidents are a combination of human error and technological breakdown. Innocent babies born today, 20 years after the [Chernobyl] accident, still paid tribute to the nuclear disaster, born with terrible deformities and having little chance of survival. Can today's decision makers in Namibia guarantee that this will not happen to our daughters and sons?" said Kohrs in a letter distributed to newspapers in the country.

Russian media however report that the country wants to build 42 nuclear plants at home and 60 more in other countries over the next few years - offering the technology, but wanting secure uranium supplies in return, as from Namibia, one of the top five uranium producers.

Namibia has one of the largest open uranium mines in the world and a second started production this year.

Unbeknownst to the Namibian public, when Russia conceived the idea of the FNPP in 2005, it promised that the technology would not be sold to other countries.

Yevgeny Kuzin, general director of the public joint-stock company Malaya Energetika, who was the project leader, was quoted by Russian agency RIA Novosti at that time as saying, "Russia will only sell its products - electric power, heat and fresh water. This means that there is no cause for concern with respect to the proliferation of nuclear technologies."

Russia could have started constructing its first plant early last year in the White Sea, off the coast of the town of Severodvinsk in the Arkhangelsk region in the northern parts of the country.

Kuzin was quoted as saying the plant would produce roughly 1/150^th of the power produced by a standard Russian NPP (using a VVER-1000 water-cooled reactor) and it would be equipped with two power units using KLT-40S reactors and small FNPPs would be a blessing for the Russian regions adjoining the Arctic Ocean.

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