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French energy giant Areva on Friday signed key nuclear skills development agreements with South Africa's Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa).

The agreements were signed by Areva CEO Anne Lauvergeon and Necsa CEO Rob Adam, during a ceremony attended by President Thabo Mbeki and visiting French President Nicholas Sarkozy.

The agreements will see Areva's support for engineering and nuclear skills development extended and increased.

Arecsa -- a joint venture between Areva and Necsa -- will increase training in technology and energy of disadvantaged South Africans, underlining the company's commitment to government's Asgisa and Jipsa initiatives, Ariva said in a statement.

Future cooperation between Areva and Necsa also extended to training artisans through the Necsa Artisan Training Centre and a Technical Training Centre, which reopened this year to address the needs for artisans in the broader nuclear industry.

These agreements supported Areva's initiatives aimed at bridging the gap in nuclear skills necessary to build and maintain South Africa's nuclear programme.

Among other things, the project leaders programme that had already trained skilled South African engineers at the Sorbonne and Areva University would be extended for a further five years, with more engineers benefiting from the training.

This year, Areva, in partnership with North-West University (NWU), would commence nuclear project management training at the university. The training targeted SA nuclear industry executives and NWU post-graduate students registered for nuclear engineering.

"Skills are critical if South Africa's nuclear industry is to succeed," Lauvergeon said. "Today we have extended our support to the Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (Jipsa), and made another strong commitment to this vital area of the South African government's economic policy," she said.

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