Necsa new reactor project only one of several being developed across Africa, says IAEA

The South African Nuclear Energy Corporation’s (Necsa’s) project to build a multipurpose reactor (MPR) to replace its current SAFARI-1 research reactor was only one ou of eight or nine such MPR or new research reactor projects and proposals currently under consideration across Africa. This was pointed out by research reactor specialist Nuno Pessoa Barradas, who headed the International Research Reactor Utilisation Review (IRRUR) team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which visited Necsa last week. These projects were in different stages of development, he noted, and it was impossible to say how many of them would actually be built. By far the majority – 70% to 80% — would be MPRs.