Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso and Russia signed three memorandums on Wednesday relating to the construction of Burkina Faso's first nuclear power plant and provide for the arrival of Russian technicians in Ouagadougou and the definition of a global framework of nuclear cooperation, as the next step.The Minister in charge of Energy, Yacouba Zabré Gouba and the Director General of ROSATOM, the Russian atomic energy giant, Alexey Likhachev, signed on Wednesday June 5, 2024 in Saint Petersburg, three memorandums relating to the realization of the nuclear power plant project in the Land of Upright Men, indicates the communications service of the Burkinabè Ministry in charge of Energy.'The next step towards energy sovereignty should be the arrival of Russian technicians in Burkina to begin discussions on the preliminary studies for setting up the plant,' explain the services of the Burkinabe ministry in charge of Energy.'We want to move very quickly following the instructions of the President of Faso,' suggested Minister Gouba, after signing the memorandums, accompanied in this mission to Russia by his Transport colleague, Roland A. Somda.'The next step will be the signing of an inter-governmental agreement defining the global framework for cooperation in the nuclear field,' revealed the Burkinabe Ministry of Energy. On this subject, Minister Gouba undertook to send invitations to ROSATOM from next month for this purpose.The first major act in the implementation of the project roadmap between Burkina Faso and Russia, the memorandums were signed on the sidelines of the Saint Petersburg Economic Forum and relate respectively to staff training, awareness raising and support of the populations, evaluation and development of the nuclear power plant.The exchanges between the Burkinabè delegation and their Russian hosts take into account subjects linked to the method of financing and the site of the future power plant.They also take into account the use of nuclear power in other areas such as health, agriculture and industry as a whole.Since October 2023, the Ministry of Energy and ROSATOM have committed to accelerating the process of building a nuclear power plant.Burkina Faso, with a chronic electricity deficit, expects more than one giga/hour of electricity in the construction of the nuclear power plant.'It is very important that the populations quickly see the completion of this project. We need to move towards the practical phase,' reacted Alexey Lickhachev, the boss of ROSATOM.Burkina, in its commitment against terrorism and imperialism which call into question its right to exist, has moved closer to Russia which is fighting for its sovereignty, standing against Western pressure and sanctions.Source: Burkina Information Agency