Countries without a nuclear reactor are accessing research reactors through the power of the internet and a new agreement signed in Vienna will allow students from Kenya, Tanzania, Tunisia and South Africa to gain access to the research reactor in Morocco, despite the lack of a reactor of their own, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.
There are only nine research reactors operating on the entire continent of Africa, but access to education and research is growing with the IAEA facilitating agreements that expand the reach of nuclear technology.
With the advancement of access to reactors, the demand for new research facilities could grow, said Makhail Chudakove, Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Energy at IAEA.
“Morocco's institutions involved in nuclear science and technology make their infrastructure and accumulated knowledge and experience available to other African countries through the IAEA,” said Khalid El Mediouri, Director General of CNESTEN, IAEA said on its website.
The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission has already granted access to the ISIS reactor to students in Tanzania and Tunisia. Students from Columbia, Cuba and Ecuador, for their part, have been granted access to the RA-6 research reactor in Argentina.
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