R300 billion not the final cost for new SA nuclear plants

Cape Town, South Africa — ESI-AFRICA.COM — 29 February 2012 – South African energy minister Dipuo Peters has admitted that the R300 billion allocated in the budget last week for building new nuclear power plants in South Africa is not the confirmed final amount for the project.

“I think that the amount of money that has been allocated for the nuclear build is not a thumb-suck, and we don’t actually think that is the end amount “’ but we do believe that it is the beginning,” she said.

Responding via video-link to questions posed during a media briefing here, she declined to give further information on the specifications or tenders for the nuclear plants. “I don’t want to pre-empt the work, and the media will be kept informed once this information is available,” she added.

The government’s integrated resource plan (IRP) aims to boost the electricity base load in South Africa by scaling up nuclear output to 9.6 Gigawatts (GW).

According to the Treasury’s 2012 Budget Review tabled last week by finance minister Pravin Gordhan, the target date for achieving this is 2029. According to the Review, the nuclear build project is “in the final stages of consideration before a financial proposal can be determined.”