NamPower cools talk of immediate nuclear plant for Namibia

Namibia has been urged to first consider installing small modular reactors (SMRs) before it embarks on the nuclear power station route, in order to gain insight into the nuclear industry.Addressing lawmakers at a parliamentary standing committee meeting this week, NamPower MD, Kahenge Haulofu, said that while Namibia had an abundance of uranium resources, it did not necessarily give it a fast track towards developing a nuclear power station.“If we look at small nations like Rwanda and others, they are looking at what we refer to as SMRs, which can be 150 megawatts (MW), and later, when the time is right with approvals, you can use nuclear fuel,” Haulofu said of Namibia’s approach to adopting nuclear power.Not so fastNamibia would also require a strategic partner that is already active in the field to advance its aspirations, Haulofu explained.“You will need a strategic partner; Namibia may not build that plant on its own. We may need a partner, like Eskom [South African power utility company] has with Orano SA,” Haulofu said, referring to what South Africa is doing to power its Koeberg Nuclear Power Station, the only one currently on the African continent.The construction and commissioning of a nuclear power plant would also require considerable planning on the part of the government, Haulofu said.“We know that for a country like ours to start thinking about a nuclear power plant, personally, I would feel that we must plan carefully. Just because we have uranium, does not mean it should be considered next year; it will never happen if we think like that,” he said.A government matterThe nuclear power issue is one that is supposed to be handled by the government, Haulofu told lawmakers, emphasising that NamPower would only play an advisory role.“The uranium issue is a government issue, it is not a NamPower issue. We are ready to assist the government with our technical know-how to advance some of these things,” he said.Meanwhile, President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, during a visit to the Rössing Uranium, advocated for the construction of a nuclear power station. “Our uranium should be used for peaceful purposes to power Namibia, to develop our nation and the globe. There is no dream that is too big to be achieved. Collectively, let us start moving towards the nuclear power plant in Namibia and identify potential partnerships to achieve this goal,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said.

NamPower cools talk of immediate nuclear plant for Namibia

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Republikein 2025-10-15

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NamPower cools talk of immediate nuclear plant for Namibia

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