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Following recent action by Africa, a majority of the world's countries have now banned nuclear weapons from their national territory for the first time. The change happened when an all-Africa treaty entered into force in July. International civil society organizations including the World Council of Churches (WCC) played a catalytic role. Taking a shared approach to a safer world, Africa became a nuclear-weapon-free zone when Burundi recently became the 28th state to ratify the Treaty of Pelindaba. A WCC delegation visited the central African country in March 2009 to encourage the step. The addition of 54 countries in Africa means that 116 nations are now within treaty zones banning nuclear weapons. The WCC Central Committee has saluted Africa's new nuclear-free status in a September 2009 statement and invites further church support for such actions. The committee has also urged Russia and the United States "to join China, Britain and France in ratifying the treaty protocols that give Africa added protection" from nuclear attacks.

Many countries in Africa and the Middle East have said they want to develop civilian nuclear programmes to meet rising power demand. Nuclear is seen by many as a long-term solution to high fuel costs and an effective way to cut carbon emissions from the electricity generation sector. A fall in fossil fuel prices since summer 2008 has made nuclear power less attractive than it was when oil CLc1 was above $147 a barrel in July 2008. South Africa is the only country in the region with an operational nuclear power plant. Below are the nuclear aspirations of countries across Africa and the Middle East.

Many countries in Africa and the Middle East have said they want to develop civilian nuclear programmes to meet rising power demand. Nuclear is seen by many as a long-term solution to high fuel costs and an effective way to cut carbon emissions from the electricity generation sector. A fall in fossil fuel prices since summer 2008 has made nuclear power less attractive than it was when oil CLc1 was above $147 a barrel in July 2008. South Africa is the only country in the region with an operational nuclear power plant. Below are the nuclear aspirations of countries across Africa and the Middle East.

South Africa would implement interventions with regard to the export of uranium to ensure that the country retained an adequate supply for its own electricity-generation needs, the Department of Minerals and Energy's (DME's) director of nuclear non-proliferation Elsie Monale asserted on Wednesday. Speaking at the Institute for International Research's Nuclear & Uranium Summit in Johannesburg, Monale stated that South Africa and Southern Africa had an abundance of uranium and that the country should benefit from its minerals.

Nuclear energy is now considered the world's only sure alternative to the diminishing reserves of fossil fuel. Africa is sitting on a huge pile of uranium, the principal source of nuclear energy. Could this be the start of a uranium bonanza for Africa? Tom Nevin reports. The inexorable rise in the price of oil, the choking effects of coal as a power generator and the irrational behaviour of rivers have all contributed to banishing the ghosts of Chernobyl and Three Mile Island and welcoming back the atom as the only reliable source of electricity in a power hungry world. And Africa, as the planet's biggest repository of uranium, stands to be the big winner.

"Oil and gas remain critical sources of power and energy for North African nations. In the medium term, hydrocarbons will remain the predominant sources of energy, whether it is for the OPEC countries of Algeria and Libya or the less-oil-endowed nations of Tunisia and Morocco. But in the longer term, the nuclear option appears interesting to all as oil reserves are depleted and securing new sources of energy is a strategic priority. On the ground, all North African nations have been working somewhat to develop nuclear capabilities for civilian and industrial use. Each country has put in place programs that have been supported or endorsed by a Western super power, notably France, which has obvious economic interest in helping develop such industry. The North Africa Journal Take: * Despite media noise in the region that relay political views instead of depicting the reality, no single North African nation is contemplating the use of the nuclear option for non-civilian purposes. Various media sources and analysts outside of the region have also been raising red flags but we believe their positions are unfounded and without any base, essentially motivated by political reasons"

"Documents reveal how then-defence minister Shimon Perez tried to sell South Africa's apartheid government the bomb Israel documents: Cover page of memo revealing secret nuclear agreement with South Africa This cover page of an ISSA (ISrael-South Africa agreement) meeting in Pretoria between Israeli and South African officials on 30 June 1975 establishes the presence of General RF Armstrong, who wrote the nuclear memo. * Minutes of third ISSA meeting, 30/6/1975 Israel documents: Memo showing secret nuclear agreement with South Africa This document details the another ISSA meeting during which Botha says he needs the 'right payload' and Peres offers it in 'three sizes' (paragraph 10). "

Mining companies under encouragement by the South African Government now want to mine Uranium on a vast scale all around South Africa. 120 years of Uranium pollution due to Gold Mining Activities has never been cleaned up ... what will make this any different?

South Africa is completing feasibility studies into nuclear fuel production processes and now plans to develop experimental sites, an official at state- owned Nuclear Energy Corp. of SA, or Necsa, said. "We are finishing a range of feasibility studies into aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle," Van Zyl de Villiers, general manager of research and development at Pretoria-based Necsa, said in an interview in Johannesburg today. "The next step for us will be to establish experimental infrastructure." South Africa plans to add to its only existing nuclear plant, Koeberg, to overcome electricity shortages and reduce the country's dependence on coal. While power utility Eskom Holdings Ltd. this year canceled a plan to build the country's second nuclear plant, citing costs, the government said it remained committed to nuclear power.

"Israel's President Shimon Peres has denied a report which claims there was an alleged nuclear pact between Israel and apartheid South Africa. Documents to be published in a new book show Israel agreed to give South Africa nuclear weapons in 1975, the Guardian newspaper has reported. Mr Peres was Israel's defence minister at the time and was named in the Guardian article. "

Treaty's Entry Into Force Makes Entire Southern Hemisphere Free of Nuclear Weapons Over the last 13 years, all 53 African nations have signed the Treaty of Pelindaba. A Treaty making Africa into a zone free of nuclear weapons entered into force on 15 July 2009, in turn expanding the nuclear-weapon free territories to cover the entire Southern hemisphere. The Treaty of Pelindaba entered into force when Burundi deposited its instrument of ratification, becoming the 28th nation to do so. Over the last 13 years, all 53 African nations have signed the Treaty of Pelindaba. The IAEA has issued the following statement:

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday called for boosting trade with Namibia, at the start of the first visit by a Kremlin chief to the uranium-rich southern African nation. "We should have started work with our African partners a long time ago," Medvedev told reporters after talks with his Namibian counterpart Hifikepunye Pohamba. The talks produced few major announcements, but Medvedev used the visit to highlight Russia's desire to reassert Moscow's influence on a continent where many countries were once under the Soviet sphere of influence. "Africa is waiting for our support. The civilised part of mankind, as it is accustomed to be called, should pay its debts to Africa," he said.

South Africa's sole nuclear waste management site, Vaalputs, in the Northern Cape, was likely to house high-level waste within the next ten years, the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (Necsa) said on Wednesday. Speaking at Vaalputs, CEO Rob Adams said that the site currently only dealt with low and intermediate level waste from the Koeberg nuclear power station, in Cape Town. However, South Africa would need a fully operational high-level waste management site by 2070 to deal with spent fuel accumulated at Pelindaba and Koeberg. The high-level waste was currently being stored at underground facilities at Pelindaba and Koeberg, respectively.

South Africa expects its next nuclear power plant to come on stream by 2019, two years later than initially planned by utility Eskom, which has dropped plans to build the facility due to financial woes. While Eskom was hoping nuclear energy would supply one quarter or 20,000 megawatts (MW) of South Africa's expanded generating capacity by 2025, the government says a target of 6,000 MW in the same period is more feasible.

South Africa, suffering a power crisis that's limiting supplies to gold and platinum mines, canceled a plan to build a nuclear plant for about 120 billion rand ($12 billion) as the credit freeze cuts financing. State-owned Eskom Holdings Ltd's decision won't undermine "national security of supply" as economic growth will slow and other plants are being built, the government communications office said in an e-mailed statement today.

Zambia has enacted a law for mining, storage and export of uranium which bars the diversion of the mineral for use in making nuclear weapons or devices, mines minister Kalombo Mwansa said on Monday. Mwansa said he had signed a law to pave the way for uranium mining in the country following the discovery of huge uranium deposits in several parts of the mineral-rich southern Africa country.

The worldwide scramble for energy sources due to dwindling fossil fuel reserves has placed renewed emphasis on nuclear energy as solution for future needs. As a result, Namibia in south-western Africa is experiencing a uranium boom. With around 3,800 tons of annual production, Namibia is the world's sixth largest uranium producer. Its delivery of seven percent of world uranium production has led to the country being wooed by big powers that wish to secure supplies for their nuclear energy expansion plans. Spot prices doubled in 2007, reaching 136 dollars per pound but recently levelling at around 82 dollars a pound.

Five Member States Submit Candidates to Agency´s Board The IAEA´s 146 Member States were advised this week that five candidates have been nominated for Director General of the Agency. In a letter dated 28 April 2008, IAEA Board Chair Taous Feroukhi said she had received official nominations from the governments of Belgium, Japan, Slovenia, South Africa and Spain. The five nominated candidates are: Mr. Yukiya Amano of Japan; Mr. Luis Echávarri of Spain; Mr. Abdul Samad Minty of South Africa; Mr. Ernest Petrič of Slovenia; and Mr. Jean-Pol Poncelet of Belgium.

"While the world is busy watching the FIFA World Cup that is being held at South Africa, the CBS on Sunday went to throw some light on a still unsolved issue of 2007 when a raid was carried out at the Pelindaba's nuclear research facility that contained weapons-grade uranium. Scott Pelley of CBS' "60 Minutes" is seen exploring the incidents and how such a raid could have had one of the most horrific effects on the whole world. CBS replayed its 2008 famous report on the issue that has brought the matter to the national attention. The "60 Minutes" episode that once again enlivened in front of the viewers the horror of the attack with interviews with people who have been present at the place and also experts who provided insight into the matter and what consequences the raid could have yielded. Scott Pelley interviews Anton Gerber the man who was present at the plant on that fatal night and who had worked at Pelindaba for 30 years."

Britain learned that apartheid South Africa was preparing to test an atomic bomb only after being alerted by the Russians. Previously secret papers released at the National Archives show how James Callaghan, the Labour prime minister, was informed in August 1977 of a secret test site in the Kalahari Desert in a personal letter from Leonid Brezhnev, the Soviet president. A Soviet spy satellite had discovered the site at Vastrap, in a remote area south of South Africa's border with Botswana, a week earlier. Two 750-foot shafts had been drilled in preparation for underground explosions. The Americans appear to have possessed similar satellite imagery but failed to inform their closest ally until after the Brezhnev letter.