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Govt may build nuke plant for power generation
2007-10-06 08:58:59
By Njonanje Samwel
The government has said it is considering the use of the uranium deposits available in the country to put up a nuclear plant to generate electricity.
Higher Education, Science and Technology minister Peter Msolla told a press conference in Dar es Salaam yesterday that Tanzania has enough unexplored reserves of uranium, the basic raw material in the production of electricity using nuclear fusion technology.
Reading the government`s statement on the just-ended International Atomic Energy Agency meeting held in Vienna, the minister said a kilogramme of uranium can run a plant able to produce 1000MW in 21 months.
`As a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Tanzania is allowed to use nuclear technology and allied materials as per regulations laid down by the nuclear technology watchdog,` he noted.
Prof Msolla further explained that the government was exploring the possibility of putting up a nuclear energy plant as an alternative source of energy `to check the recurrence of crippling power shortages`.
For the whole of last year and part of the previous one, Tanzania grappled with an acute power crisis after dams that generate power dried up following a series of dry spells.
`Drought led to a series of blackouts that forced the government to explore the feasibility of developing other sources of power,` said the minister, adding that the nuclear plant would help the country become less dependence on hydropower.
He would not say when the plans would be executed, only hinting that it would largely depend on the degree to which sources of power currently available would stand relative to demand.
Prof Msolla allayed public fears over the dangers and risks commonly associated with use of nuclear technology, saying the world has come up with ways to ensure safe handling of the respective plants.
`Nuclear technology is no longer much of a threat to human health because scientists have come up with new methods of handling nuclear plants by simultaneously constructing small but powerful plants from which synthesized uranium waste is destroyed through recycling,` he pointed out.
He revealed that the government would next year get funding assistance to the tune of $680,000 with which to start working on the usage of nuclear technology in earnest. However, he gave no details.
There are 439 nuclear plants in 30 countries globally producing more than 16 per cent of all electricity in the world, while more than half of all the 30 plants now under construction are in developing countries.
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