Ethiopia plans to build two 1200 MWe reactors, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali said on October 28, and has identified three potential sites for a nuclear plant from an initial list of more than 30 that have been assessed. The sites' viability and suitability must be confirmed by "external institutions" before agreements are entered into with a technology provider, he said, in a video posted to mark a visit to the Ethiopian Nuclear Energy Commission.

Abiy said the program would take "at least" ten years. The initial investment needed in nuclear is high compared with sources such as hydro or solar, he said, but nuclear's consistent high-level output, without the seasonal fluctuations that can affect other sources, gave it a "distinct advantage". Ethiopia also needs to prepare its workforce: "It is not a simple matter of awarding a contract, starting, and finishing," he said.

The Commission was established last year, when Ethiopia launched a nuclear energy program.

Ethiopia has been cooperating with Russia on nuclear energy. An intergovernmental agreement was signed in 2019; a roadmap for bilateral cooperation, covering steps to explore construction of a nuclear power plant and a Nuclear Science and Technology Centre, was signed in 2023; and in March the Commission and Rosatom signed a strategic roadmap, following an action plan drawn up in September 2025.

Russia's ambassador to Ethiopia, Yevgeny Terekhin, said this week that Rosatom, through the Rusatom International Network, and the Commission are coordinating a draft intergovernmental agreement on the fundamental principles of cooperation for construction of a nuclear power plant, Tass reported. "The signing of the agreement will initiate the phase of design and engineering work," he said, ahead of the Russia-Africa summit in Moscow on October 28-29.