Eskom gets new nuke plant
Govt gives utility the nod to build it at Cape’s Duynefontein.
The Department of Energy has granted Eskom permission to build a new nuclear power plant at Duynefontein in the Western Cape, near the existing Koeberg plant, the utility said yesterday.
It is now waiting for government to make a policy decision on whether to proceed with the country’s contested nuclear power expansion programme.
Eskom’s chief nuclear officer Dave Nicholls said it marked a milestone in the development of SA’s nuclear energy capacity.
“We welcome the authorisation by the department on the final environmental impact report (F-EIR) for the Nuclear-1 power station and associated infrastructure.”
He said Eskom had believed the department would give the nod to development at an alternative site at Thyspunt in the Eastern Cape, but it had also prepared itself to proceed at Duynefontein.
“While we had worked on Thyspunt being the preferred site according to the F-EIR compiled by an independent environmental practitioner, we have always considered both sites equally capable of hosting a nuclear power plant.
“We had progressed the nuclear installation site licence to the National Nuclear Regulator for both sites,” Nicholls said.
It should be noted that “no fatal flaws” had been found regarding Thyspunt and three other sites – Schulpfontein and Brazil in the Northern Cape and Bantamklip in the Western Cape. They remained future options, he said.
Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe said the utility could not say when it would proceed with the procurement of new plants – a process halted by the high court.
In May, the court set aside two determinations gazetted by former energy minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson on nuclear procurement in 2015 and 2016 as unlawful and unconstitutional, and invalidated nuclear co-operation pacts SA signed with five countries, including Russia. – ANA