In 2014 the government took an about-turn in its approach to the nuclear build, displaying a sudden urgency to seal a large deal with Russia. The speedy and secretive manner in which government initiated a process with massive and long-term cost implications, and the inexplicable decision to declare Russia as a preferred partner ahead of other potential options, immediately led to intense suspicion of corruption.
It would be sensible to acknowledge that a nuclear program is not viable for resolving South Africa’s energy crisis. Rather, the country should be focusing its attention on how to end electricity blackouts and speed up energy efficiency and renewable energy programs.
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research found that nuclear energy is 25% more expensive than new coal and solar power, and 67% more expensive than wind.
Building new nuclear energy capability will cost the country billions of US dollars. It is doubtful that South Africa can afford this.
In addition, nuclear power entails a different but also serious set of risks to climate change. These include the risk of reactors accidents, the danger of weapons proliferation and the hazards of radioactive waste.
The South African government has said it will not go ahead with nuclear power if the expected construction cost is more than $6500/kW, equivalent to about R130bn per reactor. However, the latest cost estimates are about 25% higher than this. This means that if the South African government sticks to its promise, the tender will fail.
But we should know that South Africa is the only African country to operate a nuclear power plant. There are two main reasons that no other African country has developed nuclear power capability: electricity grids are often too small or weak to accommodate the output from a nuclear power plant and countries battle to raise the kind of finance needed for a nuclear program.
Egypt has repeatedly attempted to order nuclear power plants over a 35-year period only to find finance was not available.
But finance is a problem for even the richest countries in the world. Even Britain’s attempt to build two nuclear reactors could yet prove financeable.
Credit : J Santu