Ministry of Energy and Mining announced that preliminary arrangements have started for establishing the infrastructure to develop a nuclear power programme for scientific research in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
According to National Electricity Corporation (NEC) General Manager and Chairman of the Nuclear Energy Project Committee, Engineer Makkawi Awad, Sudan is in bad need to enter the nuclear project for peaceful use to produce electricity.
The national workshop organized by the Ministry of Energy and Mining in cooperation with the IAEA to prepare for the infrastructure of generating electricity from nuclear power, revealed that Sudan's requirements from electricity for the year 2008 exceeds 20 times the existing energy according to the 2002 – 2007 plan.
Studies pointed that the energy provided through water generating from River Nile represents only 25% of the required energy in Sudan with 75% deficit.
The workshop represents an actual start to launch the projects as it was proposed to assign a separate unit to supervise this huge project.
The formation of two committees one under the chairmanship of Minister of Energy and Mining including Ministers of Technology, Finance and Justice to draft the laws coping with the international nuclear rules and the second committee is a technical one under the chairmanship of NEC General Manager, is but a serious step to enter the nuclear club.
It will become possible for Sudan to join the nuclear generation within 5 to 8 years after qualifying the cadres for such activity. This is the time when the many universities operating science and technology colleges will graduate the manpower for this project.
Most important is to notify that Sudan is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which allows countries to build nuclear power stations under international supervision.