SA, Russia sign partnership agreement enhancing nuclear medicine

THE NUCLEAR Energy Corporation of SA (Necsa) yesterday signed a strategic partnership agreement with Rusatom Healthcare for nuclear medicines, as the ANC reiterated, the country did not have money for nuclear energy, but left the door open for future deals.

Necsa said the agreement with the health-care division of Russian stateowned nuclear corporation Rosatom was not a purchase order and did not create any rights or obligations under international or national law.

Necsa chief executive Phumzile Tshelane said the deal would mostly involve the use of nuclear medicine for cancer treatment in Africa and the rest of the world.

Tshelane said the export of nuclear medicines would generate more money for the fiscus.

“Nuclear medicine not only saves lives, but also generates large revenues for South Africa,” Tshelane said. “Necsa is looking forward to increased production and the maximisation of profits for the country.”

The Necsa-Rusatom agreement came just hours after ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile said on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, South Africa could not afford large-scale expansion of its nuclear power capacity, but would still be open to future deals with Russia.

He said the country would be open to nuclear business with countries such as Russia once was it was affordable to do so.

Rosatom was one of the leading bidders in the country’s nuclear procurement programme under former president Jacob Zuma before the President Cyril Ramaphosa put a stop on it, charging that it was too expensive for the country.

Necsa chairperson Dr Kelvin Kemm said Necsa and Rusatom would construct two reactors at Phelindaba.

Kemm said the reactors would be small, only the size of a house, with power output measured in kilowatts, not megawatts.

He said each reactor would cost about R250 million and would be constructed with local labour and materials to a Russian design.

Kemm said the deal would involve the exchange of profitable nuclear isotopes that would help in the early detection of cancer.

“Cancer treatment is very costly, so governments are keen on reducing the burden on the public health-care system,” Kemm said.

Necsa and Rusatom plan to construct a commercial cyclotron in the country to increase the production capacity of nuclear medicine in the region.

Rusatom chief executive Denis Cherednichenko said he believed a combined effort would open up new markets and hasten new technological advances in the sector.

“Nuclear medicine is rapidly expanding globally and plays a vitally important role in the early detection of cancers and other non-communicable diseases,” he said.