Welcome SA’s nuclear programme with pride, writes Dr Kelvin Kemm
THE focus of public discourse in South Africa this year has settled regularly – and urgently – on securing its energy future; and much of that discussion has centred on the country’s proposed nuclear power build programme.
Love it or hate it, the priority on this issue is that citizens are given access to correct and sufficient information to make up their own minds. The unfortunate reality is that misinformation, myths and hysteria make better headlines than a focus on the facts – and in the case of nuclear, an informed discussion regarding the economic benefits of nuclear power and the size of the investment required.
Nuclear power can change all our lives for the better, providing a sustainable solution to climate change, economic opportunities, sustainable jobs and the beginnings of a science legacy in South Africa.
It is worth considering why the UK and the US have recently underlined their commitments to developing more nuclear power as a mainstay for economic growth.
As part of a strategy of national development, the government decided there must be a large percentage of local content in the nuclear power programme.
That is a totally correct approach. The target mentioned is 50 percent, with some vendors indicating an amount as high as 60 percent. This translates into substantial benefits for the domestic economy, job creation and skills development.
South African companies and labour will dig the foundations and pour the concrete, build the walls, lay the water pipes, install the electrical systems, and much more. We do this all the time on many other plants, so why not on a nuclear power station? As we move up the complexity chain, it will be South African engineers who execute the construction of the pumping systems and electrical control plant. It will be South Africans who bolt it all together and solder the wires.
In terms of local production, South African companies are more than capable of producing the goods and services required to build much of a nuclear power plant.
Smaller high precision parts are needed, such as pumps and valves and many more. There is an immense opportunity for local producers to benefit from the investment in nuclear power plants.
Yes, the representatives of foreign companies will come here to work with our scientists and engineers, as the more complex elements are put together.
Some items like the casting of large metal pressure vessels will not be done in South Africa, not because we don’t have the intellect to understand it, but because we have not developed the facilities large enough to do it.
South Africa is already a nuclear powered country. People often forget about the critical role that the Koeberg Power Station in Cape Town plays, supplying the Western Cape with nearly 50 percent of its power cheaper than electricity produced by the large coal-fired plants and considerably cheaper than wind or solar-generated electricity.
A piece of uranium the size of an egg contains enough nuclear energy to supply the electricity needs for the entire lifetime of one person. This is millions of times more energy than is contained in a similar size lump of coal, or in a cupful of petrol. Coal-fired power stations also need to be fed a continuous stream of coal, twenty four hours a day. To contrast Koeberg’s demand, if it were a coal-fired plant, it would use six trainloads of coal a day, instead of the one truck load of nuclear fuel a year.
The cost of power production is also important to consider. While there is a large initial capital outlay, nuclear power plants of the future will also produce electricity cheaper than coalfired electricity, with none of the emissions and therefore no carbon footprint.
In fact, this is an original design criterion. Detailed financial analysis carried out by nuclear specialists at North West University, has shown that new nuclear power, produced in South Africa, will be cheaper than coal-fired electricity.
No scientist or engineer would ever have started designing a nuclear power plant without having the final selling price of the electricity defined as an integrated element of what one calls the design envelope.
A nuclear power plant has a higher initial capital construction cost than a coalfired plant, but the fuel is much cheaper and much more predictable in price. If, in years to come the uranium price were to double, it makes virtually no difference because the fuel volume is so low.
South Africa has a very competent body of nuclear professionals, as capable as anywhere in the world. We can become world players in the nuclear fabrication market, earning foreign exchange for the country, and providing future jobs and pride for our own people. This is exciting.
The nuclear programme is something to be welcomed and viewed with pride, not with fear and lack of self-confidence.
Nuclear power for a country like South Africa will, and must, play a critical role in the country’s economic and social development.
The building and development of nuclear power plants in South Africa will not only secure South Africa’s energy future, but generate thousands of jobs, develop a highly specialised technical skill set and stimulate further interest in the sciences. Furthermore, it will generate a legacy of employment, skills development and science-focused education; something South Africa desperately needs.
Nuclear power expansion is our future. As a nuclear scientist, I know that we can build these reactors; together with foreign partners we can export assemblies all around the world.
Dr Kelvin Kemm is the chief executive of Nuclear Africa (Pty) Ltd, a Pretoriabased nuclear energy management company. He took part in a round-table discussion hosted by the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry this week explaining South Africa’s nuclear power project.