Bangladesh took Russian nuclear electricity deal SA refused. It has just received the first uranium

In 2014, Russia's state-owned nuclear power company, Rosastom, made a landmark announcement: it had agreed to build reactors to produce up to 9 600MW of power for South Africa – twice the capacity of the massive Medupi coal-fired power station, and enough to make load shedding a great deal less likely far into the future.

Russia was enthusiastic about the deal because it would see the first use of its VVER reactor technology on the African continent, giving it a foothold in a huge potential market. South Africa was excited because it was going to get a fully funded, end-to-end solution, with Russia building the reactors, shipping enriched fuel to SA, and taking away the resulting nuclear waste for processing.

Or, rather, Jacob Zuma was excited, as leaks and later testimony would have it. The rest of the government, including those in charge of energy, were caught somewhat off-guard by a deal the then-president had, it seemed, personally negotiated and championed.