Costly nuke deal shelved
MASHATILE: WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT, SA WILL LOOK INTO INVESTMENT
Russia the front runners in the multibillion-rand project.
South Africa cannot afford large-scale expansion of its nuclear power capacity but would be open to future deals with Russia, a senior ANC official said yesterday, shortly before the arrival of President Vladimir Putin for the Brics summit.
Russian nuclear energy firm Rosatom was one of the front runners for a project to increase South Africa’s nuclear power-generating capacity championed by former president Jacob Zuma.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has put nuclear expansion on the back burner since taking office in February, saying it is too expensive, and has focused instead on pledges to revive the economy and crack down on corruption.
ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile said the country would not rush into major nuclear investments but that it was still open to deals.
“Once we are clear that this is affordable for us to do, we are open for business including with Russia,” Mashatile said on the sidelines of a three-day Brics summit attended by the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and SA.
“I think the approach we’ll take is to avoid the Big Bang approach,” he said. “The initial intervention was that we would do close to 10 000MW. It’s unaffordable.
He also said the ANC wanted greater private investment in struggling Eskom, which swung to a loss for the year to end-March.
Russia wants to turn nuclear energy into a major export industry. It has signed agreements with African countries with no nuclear tradition, including Rwanda and Zambia, and is set to build a large nuclear plant in Egypt.
Rosatom signed a separate agreement with the SA Nuclear Energy Corporation yesterday to explore joint production of nuclear medicines and other ways of harnessing nuclear technology, the two firms announced. The agreement, which is nonbinding, is a further sign that Rosatom is keen to cement its position on the African continent.
The deal will involve the construction of two small reactors and a commercial cyclotron to produce medical isotopes and radiopharmaceuticals at a facility near Pretoria. –