Two nuclear power plants will be constructed by South Korea and Russia to supply Uganda with up to 10,000MW of electricity.
President Yoweri Museveni said that the two stations will be constructed utilizing uranium from Uganda that is located in various parts of the nation.
Simply put, two power plants producing 7,300 and 3,400 megawatts each would yield 10,700 megwatts, he said.
He spoke out against the export of Uganda’s raw materials, including as coffee and other minerals like uranium, instead of adding value to them on Tuesday at the G-25 Africa Coffee Summit in Munyonyo.
“They never returned”
Museveni said that an unspecified Western corporation had approached him with the suggestion of selling Uganda’s uranium, a plan to which he was opposed.
There is a lot of uranium in Uganda. A Western corporation once visited and suggested that uranium be mined. ‘Mine it and take it where?’ I questioned them. They commanded: “Export it.” They responded in this way.
‘Export it for that purpose?’ I questioned them. and they informed me that it was for producing nuclear energy as well as for other purposes, like medicine and vector control.
“I then asked them: Have you heard a rumor that there are some humans here in Uganda who need electricity, who need nuclear medications, and who need vector control services?” continued Museveni.
“I questioned them, saying, ‘Why don’t you propose to build that capacity here for the benefit of these people in Uganda and perhaps we can set away some uranium to help economies of friends in the West? But if you suggest that I resolve your issues while ignoring ours, I won’t accept it. They never returned.
Since that time, Uganda’s uranium, according to the president, has been kept underground until the nation is prepared to use it.
In his speech on Tuesday, Museveni referred to West African nations like Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon as having shipped its uranium to Europe for usage, a practice he claimed Uganda was not yet prepared to adopt.
“You’ve heard about the disputes in Niger, West Africa, over the export of uranium to Europe.
Museveni informed delegates at Munyonyo, “That is how I learned when this situation began that allegedly Niger is selling a lot of uranium to Europe and France for them to use in their nuclear power plants to create electricity for themselves.
In May last year, Uganda signed a five-year agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to develop a nuclear power plant.
“Nuclear energy helps in areas of medicine, agriculture, energy, and propulsion. Uganda already has a nuclear energy unit, and we shall collaborate with the Nuclear Research Centre here in specific areas of co-operation,” Museveni said during a tour of Algeria’s Nuclear Research Centre in Algiers in March this year.
Yoon Suk Yeol, the president of South Korea, sent a group of nuclear energy specialists to Uganda at the beginning of the year to talk about potential investment opportunities in the country’s nuclear energy development.
To prepare the way for the construction of a $9 billion (sh33 trillion) nuclear power plant in Uganda, a Korean team of specialists and investors met with President Museveni and representatives of the energy ministry.
