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Building a Nuclear Africa
Building a Nuclear Africa
Sputnik Africa
In this episode of Eye of the Storm, we sit down with Princess Mthombeni, founder of Africa for Nuclear and a leading advocate for nuclear energy as a driver... 18.08.2026, Sputnik Africa
2026-08-18T16:36+0200
2026-08-18T16:36+0200
2026-08-18T16:36+0200
eye of the storm
podcasts
africa
south africa
nuclear energy
renewable energy
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industrialization
jacob zuma
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Building a Nuclear Africa
Sputnik Africa
In this episode, we sit down with Princess Mthombeni, founder of Africa for Nuclear and a leading advocate for nuclear energy as a driver of African development, for a blunt discussion on why nuclear power is essential to the continent’s industrial future.
Princess traces South Africa’s nuclear journey from the SAFARI-1 research reactor of the 1960s, still producing critical nuclear medicine isotopes today, to Koeberg’s decades of baseload power, while explaining how the ambitious 9,600 MW nuclear program of the Zuma years was derailed by politics rather than technical or economic realities. The conversation challenges the narrow focus on renewables, using the Komati plant as a cautionary example of lost capacity, jobs, and local economic life, and makes the case for both conventional reactors and small modular reactors suited to inland regions. Princess highlights the superior financing and delivery models offered by partners such as Rosatom, the employment and industrial spin-offs of nuclear construction, and the broader applications of nuclear technology in water desalination and medicine.Looking ahead, she sketches a continent that refuses the perpetual “Dark Continent” label, one of lights, industries, and dignity rather than continued resource extraction and energy poverty.Princess Mthombeni makes a clear case that energy is the foundation of development, that Africa must beneficiate its own resources, and that nuclear technology, properly negotiated and deployed, can deliver the jobs, industrialization, and long-term prosperity the continent needs.Watch this episode for a development-first, unapologetic argument on why nuclear energy belongs at the center of Africa’s energy future.► Check out all the episodes of Eye of the Storm.► Listen to this podcast on all your favorite platforms: Apple Podcasts | Deezer | Spotify | Pocket Casts | Podcast Addict | Castbox | Afripods
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MIA „Rossiya Segodnya“
2026
Pieter Kriel
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Pieter Kriel
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Sputnik Africa
feedback@sputniknews.com
+74956456601
MIA „Rossiya Segodnya“
Sputnik Africa
feedback@sputniknews.com
+74956456601
MIA „Rossiya Segodnya“
Pieter Kriel
https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.africa/img/07e9/0c/1a/1081878192_0:111:480:591_100x100_80_0_0_9f00af7c34a3209f1bca3aea695ae0e3.jpg
podcasts, africa, south africa, nuclear energy, renewable energy , rosatom, industrialization, jacob zuma, аудио
podcasts, africa, south africa, nuclear energy, renewable energy , rosatom, industrialization, jacob zuma, аудио
Building a Nuclear Africa
In this episode of Eye of the Storm, we sit down with Princess Mthombeni, founder of Africa for Nuclear and a leading advocate for nuclear energy as a driver of African development, for a blunt discussion on why nuclear power is essential to the continent’s industrial future.
Princess traces South Africa’s nuclear journey from the SAFARI-1 research reactor of the 1960s, still producing critical nuclear medicine isotopes today, to Koeberg’s decades of baseload power, while explaining how the ambitious 9,600 MW nuclear program of the Zuma years was derailed by politics rather than technical or economic realities.
The conversation challenges the narrow focus on renewables, using the Komati plant as a cautionary example of lost capacity, jobs, and local economic life, and makes the case for both conventional reactors and small modular reactors suited to inland regions. Princess highlights the superior financing and delivery models offered by partners such as Rosatom, the employment and industrial spin-offs of nuclear construction, and the broader applications of nuclear technology in water desalination and medicine.
“Nuclear brings prosperity. Every developed nation has a nuclear program, and that’s just the reality,” she remarks.
Looking ahead, she sketches a continent that refuses the perpetual “Dark Continent” label, one of lights, industries, and dignity rather than continued resource extraction and energy poverty.
“I’m looking at Africa that is powered and Africa that has lights at the end of the tunnel,” Mthombeni remarks.
Princess Mthombeni makes a clear case that energy is the foundation of development, that Africa must beneficiate its own resources, and that nuclear technology, properly negotiated and deployed, can deliver the jobs, industrialization, and long-term prosperity the continent needs.
Watch this episode for a development-first, unapologetic argument on why nuclear energy belongs at the center of Africa’s energy future.
► Check out all the episodes of Eye of the Storm. ► Listen to this podcast on all your favorite platforms: Apple Podcasts | Deezer | Spotify | Pocket Casts | Podcast Addict | Castbox | Afripods 
