Vice President Chiwenga has reaffirmed that the government is actively exploring the use of nuclear energy, particularly through small modular reactors, as part of a balanced energy portfolio.
Zimbabwe is believed to have significant uranium deposits in the Zambezi Valley, which could serve as a valuable resource for nuclear power production.
VP Chiwenga made these remarks during his keynote address at the official opening of the 6th International Renewable Energy Conference in Victoria Falls on Wednesday.
During his address, VP Chiwenga told delegates that the government is exploring a diverse range of energy solutions to diversify the country’s energy mix.
This includes gas-to-power projects, particularly those derived from the Muzarabani gas reserves, which will play a transitional role in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“We are also investigating nuclear energy, particularly small modular reactors, as part of a balanced energy portfolio,” he said. On the sidelines of the conference, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Power Development Dr Gloria Magombo told said that the use of modular nuclear systems is a possibility.
“We are also looking in the future into the use of renewable energy, the use of modular nuclear systems, which are clean because nuclear by its nature is an enclosed system.
“So it’s clean, it doesn’t emit. But what you then have to deal with is how to deal with nuclear waste. And there are systems which are established from that. “And as a country, we are looking that in the next 10 to 15 years, we should be taking on board this technology,” she said.