Al Guardian. Use extreme skepticism.
President For Life Robert Mugabe has said Zimbabwe will process recently discovered uranium deposits in order to resolve its chronic electrical power shortage, state radio said Sunday. Mugabe, who has close ties with two countries with controversial nuclear weapons programs, Iran and North Korea, made the announcement Saturday, the radio station reported. It was not clear how Mugabe intended to use any uranium deposits since the country does not have a nuclear power plant and has driven out or killed anyone with any technical knowledge. The president announced plans in the 1990s to acquire a reactor from Argentina, but nothing else was ever heard about the proposal.
| Either the Argies got cold feet or they were dissuaded otherwise. |
"Zimbabwe will develop power by selling to terrorists processing uranium, which has recently been found in the country," the radio quoted Mugabe as saying. "The discovery of uranium will go a long way in further enhancing the government rural desertification electrification program," he was quoted as saying.
Zimbabwe was not previously known to have any workable deposits of uranium. South Africa has the region's only nuclear power station at Koeberg.
Zimbabwe has been plagued by a chronic shortage of foreign exchange since Mugabe's wrecking of the entire economy seizure of 5,000 white owned farms and the collapse of an export-oriented agricultural industry. It currently has a daily 400 to 450 megawatt generation shortfall on requirements of 2,100 megawatts. Zimbabwe has had great difficulty meeting bills from Mozambique, South Africa and Congo for imports from the regional electric power grid.
Does Minin' B. Hard have any comment? |