The Department of Energy (DoE) reported on Thursday night that it had concluded its first “nuclear vendor parade workshop” with a delegation from the Russian Federation and that further meetings were planned with vendor countries such as France, China, South Korea, the US and Japan.

The workshop, which was reportedly held at a resort in the Drakensberg, included a “large contingent”, around 50 people, comprising senior officials from the South African government, State-owned entities and academia.

No details were provided as to the make-up of the Russian delegation, but Beeld reported that executives from Russian nuclear technology group Rosatom were present.

Rosatom is keen to supply its VVER reactor solution to South Africa and participated in the recent signing, in Austria, of an ‘Inter-Governmental Framework Agreement on Nuclear Cooperation’ between the Russian and South African governments

The September 22 statement caused an outcry as it was presented as the conclusion of a deal for the construction of up to eight Russian VVER reactors in South Africa.

However, the DoE and Rosatom subsequently clarified that it merely formed part of South Africa’s “preparatory phase” for an eventual procurement programme.

On October 14, a similar agreement was signed with the French, and further agreements were planned with China, the US and Japan – a framework agreement had already been concluded with South Korea in 2013.

South African Nuclear Energy Corporation's Ambassador Xolisa Mabhongo told Engineering News Online that the workshops were a South African government process and that all subsequent gatherings would also be hosted inside the country.

But these meeting, the DoE said, would “depend on the readiness of these countries to participate in the vendor parade workshops”.

“The dates of these workshops will be announced in the same way that the Russian one was announced. They will be held in South Africa,” Mabhongo added.

He said South Africa was using the workshops as an opportunity to understand “what types of technology offerings could be expected from each vendor country if they were selected after a procurement process”.

The meetings entailed “detailed technical discussions on various aspects of the technology”.

Besides the technology offerings, the Russian delegation also dealt with issues related to Rosatom’s likely approach to localisation, skills transfer and economic development.