OREANDA-NEWS. In order to combat the current energy challenge faced by South Africa and the rest of the continent, Rosatom joined other industry leaders in a panel discussion at the 2015 African Energy Indaba and Exhibition hosted in Johannesburg in February, to discuss the feasibility of nuclear in Africa.

The African Energy Indaba is one of the most prestigious energy conferences on the African continent. An underlying theme of the nuclear session was whether Africa could in fact afford nuclear. Regional Vice President of Rusatom International Network Viktor Polikarpov presented Rosatom.

Polikarpov indicated that the conference served as the ideal platform to highlight important energy trends in the regional and global energy market. “The question should rather be, can Africa afford not to pursue nuclear, the continent is growing rapidly and requires an efficient, environmentally friendly and reliable form of base load energy,” he explained. “Without this base load energy, the continent will be unable to realise its dream of industrialization and will not be able to achieve significant economic growth.”

According to Polikarpov, there are a number of different finance options available by Rosatom that could prove to be affordable solutions for African countries seeking to gain access to nuclear power.