Russian nuclear company Rusatom Overseas believes that it could generate thousands of jobs in South Africa if it is chosen to build the proposed new fleet of nuclear power plants (NPPs) and that its localisation programme would generate billions of dollars in revenues for South African companies.

Rusatom Overseas is a subsidiary of Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom and promotes Russian nuclear technologies in the global market as well as acting as an integrator of these technologies in NPP construction programmes outside Russia.

“The implementation of the South African nuclear generation development programme together with Rosatom would allow [us] to create 15 000 additional jobs in construction, service and operation of the new units, as well as several thousands of jobs in related industries, increasing the revenue of South African companies for [sic] $15-billion and ensuring $3.5-billion tax revenues to the country’s budget,” Rusatom Overseas Executive VP Boris Arseev told the 2013 Nuclear Industry Association of South Africa (Niasa) convention.

He pointed out that localisation is part of his group’s policy, and that localisation of such large projects gives a strong impetus to the development of the local economies.

Currently, South Africa plans to construct new NPPs with a total generating capacity of 9.6 GW. The Russian company stated that this could be done with six units of their design. Arseev stressed that his group’s latest Generation III+ VVER designs met all the latest international safety requirements. (VVER is the Russian counterpart to the Western pressurised water reactor, or PWR, design.)

“The Rosatom comprehensive approach to the construction of nuclear power plants is absolutely unique,” he affirmed. “The company’s integrated offer contains a full range of the nuclear power industry products and services, including fuel supply for NPPs, management of its [sic] life cycle, staff training and various financial solutions.”

The Niasa conference is being held in Port Elizabeth and started on Wednesday and will close on Friday. Rusatom Overseas has been a member of Niasa since March 2012.