nuclear-news

Confusing hype about South Africa’s planned nuclear deal with Russia

More questions than answers on SA’s nuclear deal, Business Day, BY EVAN PICKWORTH, 23 SEPTEMBER 2014  ANALYSTS WERE ON TUESDAY LEFT WITH MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS ABOUT SA’S MUCH-HYPED NUCLEAR PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT WITH RUSSIA, NOTABLY HOW MUCH IT WILL COST.

Russia has always been seen as the front-runner to win the tender and an announcement on Monday evening from Russia confirmed Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation had won the bid. But little detail about how it will be funded was forthcoming……..

Teneo Africa risk analyst Anne Fruhauf said. – “I am concerned that the deal seems to be going ahead without real discussion of the arguments made in the National Development Plan, which advocated for alternative energy sources such as natural gas before committing SA to a potentially very expensive nuclear build on the scale of 9,600MW.”

Ms Fruhauf said the “million dollar question” would be the financing details and equity ownership. The statement from Rosatom was unclear on financing details, and the Department of Energy had not returned calls asking for more clarity.

“How much of a financial liability will the nuclear deal become for SA? There are no details yet but it could be SA’s biggest public procurement programme to date. If finalised, the deal (is) likely (to) imply significant financial risks and implications for the electricity price path. The deal will almost certainly be scrutinised for irregularities and potential flouting of procurement processes,” said Ms Fruhauf……..

The agreement with Rosatom refers to up to eight units using Russian VVER reactors. A VVER reactor is Russia’s version of a pressurised water reactor. These will be the first nuclear power plants based on the Russian technology to be built on the African continent.

Estimates for the capital cost of 9.6GW of nuclear energy range from R400bn to R1-trillion‚ raising concern taxpayers will have to foot the bill‚ as government cannot afford it……… http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/2014/09/23/more-questions-than-answers-on-sas-nuclear-deal

September 24, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general