Another delay for SA’s contentious nuclear programme
On Thursday, the Department of Energy said the nuclear procurement process had been postponed to allow for further consultation
SA will have to wait a little longer before pressing ahead with a highly contentious and very costly expansion of its ageing nuclear power fleet.Exactly how long remains unclear.Last week was supposed to mark a key step forward in plans formulated back in 2010, but at the 11th hour the government balked.Early in September, the Department of Energy announced it would finally issue a tender for the construction of between six and eight power stations with a combined capacity of 9,600MW on September 30.But on September 29, the ministry pulled the plug, announcing the procurement process had been postponed to allow for further consultation.But it reiterated its commitment to a programme the government has said is essential to meeting rising demand for electricity.Five years after the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima plant in Japan, SA’s project, coupled with the green light given to the Hinkley Point plant in the UK, had been set to consolidate a global resumption of nuclear energy dev...
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