Sudan to cooperate with China in uranium projects

By Omer Erdem and Firdevs Yuksel

ANKARA (AA) - Sudan agreed with state-owned Chinese National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) on Wednesday to cooperate in the peaceful use of nuclear energy with uranium enrichment.

In an interview with Sudanese official news agency SUNA, Mohammed Abdullah, director of the Geological Research Organization announced that the Sudanese Oil, Gas and Mines Ministry and Water Resources and Electricity Ministry will partner with the CNNC for the enrichment of the country's uranium.

The Sudanese government decided to open the door to uranium investments, after consultations with security authorities, according to the country's trade minister's statement on March 12, 2018.

During the visit of Omar al-Bashir, the president of Sudan to Russia in November 2017, both governments signed an agreement on "cooperation in the peaceful uses of atomic energy."

Later on Dec. 21, 2017, Sudan's Deputy Minister of Water Resources, Irrigation and Electricity, Musa Omer Abu Elgasim and Rusatom Overseas' Head of Business Development, Dmitry Bazhenov, (Rusatom Overseas is a subsidiary of Russia's nuclear company Rosatom) signed an agreement to develop a nuclear power plant construction project in Sudanese territory.

According to the Sudanese government report in 2010, the country has 1.5 million tons of uranium reserves, mostly located in west Darfur and in the south of the country, in the Nuba Mountains.