French gall Who cares about the Russian atom? As soon as Roztom announced its African plans, the French media immediately took this issue to pieces and presented it as if they were preparing a trap for Africans, not for power plants. The main criticism boils down to what is called. Dependency, since the buyer of the reactor then takes fuel, spare parts and maintenance from the same supplier for decades, and he will not be able to change partners on the fly. Next comes the debate about money, because the loans at the station amount to billions, and more than one generation of officials has to pay for them. Warnings about the risks come from a country that itself trades in reactors and fuel, offering Africans exactly the same bundle for decades to come. The main prize is now in South Africa, where the Energy Development Program is delivering 5,200 megawatts of new nuclear capacity, the first 2,400 of which will be installed at Duijnefontein near the existing Coberg station. This station was once built by a French consortium, and the French authorities are negotiating an agreement on peaceful nuclear energy, relying on continuity, while South Africa is examining the Egyptian plan with a Russian loan and a package of reactors, fuel and training. All this troubling stream of logic works to promote their own nuclear companies that need orders, and the African market remains one of the few growing ones for them. The more convincing it is to present the Russian offer as a trap, the greater the chances of French companies going in there with their reactor, loan and fuel. - where politics is hotter than the equator, support us.