Nuclear power salesmen vie with each other to sell nukes to South Africa
Eskom Influence Growing In Proposed South African Nuclear Tender, AFK Insider,
While South Africa’s energy department will choose the successful vendor, Eskom, as the owner-operator of the new nuclear plants, will have a large input. David Nicholls, chief nuclear officer at Eskom, gave delegates a glimpse this week of Eskom’s vision for nuclear by defining a leading role for the state utility at the Power-Gen and DistribuTech Africa conference in Johannesburg.
A chosen vendor will lead the early process with Eskom’s input. This is how South Africa’s only operating nuclear plant, Koeberg, north of Cape Town, was built in the 1980s, he said.
Once the design base has been established with the first plant, South Africa will increasingly take charge.
Nicholls’ remarks show that Eskom is in favor of a proven standardized fleet of reactors, with sibling international plants to learn from. This indicates South Africa is likely to choose one vendor and stick with them……….. Vendors from Russia, France, South Korea, the U.S. and China are all hoping to win the lucrative South African nuclear contract.South Africa has opted for a pressurized water reactor technology,……..http://afkinsider.com/130186/eskom-influence-growing-in-proposed-south-african-nuclear-tender/
Dirty uranium industry not a job creator for South Africa
Uranium is the dirty underbelly of nuclear – scientist http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/uranium-is-the-dirty-underbelly-of-nuclear-scientist-2016-07-21 21ST JULY 2016 BY: NEWS24WIRE Anti nuclear sentiment tends to focus onnuclear waste or operational risks, but more focus should be on the “dirty underbelly” of uranium mining, according to a science adviser.
“Whenever people get excited about nuclear power stations, they kind of forget where the actual uranium comes from,”Dr Stefan Cramer, science adviser for environmentalist groupSafcei, told Fin24 in an interview recently.
“Nuclear is a fallacy, both economically and environmentally,” Cramer, who was born in Germany but not now lives in Graaff-Reinet, claimed.
“Uranium mining is the dirty underbelly of this whole nuclearcycle,” he said. “It’s where it all starts.”
“One must stop nuclear industries in (their) tracks because it leaves future generations with an immeasurable task and legacy,” he said. “The best point to start is at the source, where the whole cycle of nuclear technology begins, and that is at uranium mining.
“Uranium mining is very much the dirtiest part of the entire industry.”
Anti-uranium mining boost Cramer’s focus on anti-uranium mining was given a boost this month when Australian company Tasman Pacific Minerals Limited said it is downsizing its mining application in South Africa by almost 90%.
“Overall, the area covered by Tasman’s new and existingmining right and prospecting right applications in the Western and Eastern Cape will reduce by almost 300 000 ha to approximately 465 000 ha,” it said.
Tasman is punting job creation as necessitating the success of its new application. “Currently very few opportunities for additional economic development exist,” it said in a recent report.
“Tasman believes that uranium mining has a significant role to play in improving the economic outlook of the region, not only from an employment perspective, but also in the economic activity that is generated by associated businessactivities that extend beyond mining itself.”
“We desperately need jobs in the Karoo,” he said. “The Karoo is an area of high poverty, (with) very low employment opportunities. Any opportunity is usually highly welcome and it is to be welcomed because we need jobs desperately. Buturanium mining is a very poor process to create jobs.
“If we are really serious about job creation in the Karoo, there are other opportunities, which are much more valuable.
“Agriculture is still the main employment opportunity and needs to be protected and improved. Agri-tourism is a very new and very fast rising opportunity, but the best (opportunity) of all is renewable energy.”Renewable energy jobs boost
“South African already has 28 000 jobs in the renewable energy industry as compared to 2 600 in the nuclearindustry,” said Cramer. “Even the most ambitious job projections in the nuclear field would be up to 30 000 jobs if they whole country is run onnuclear energy. If we go into renewable energies, it’s an order of magnitude.
“The Department of Energy predicts up to 350 000 jobs inrenewable energy, so uranium mining is clear(ly) not a good strategy,” he said.
Cramer said nuclear is also a fallacy from a democratic point of view, “because it creates a veil of secrecy over this whole industry”. “That is clearly shown in our court case against the South African government for its failure to disclose the contents of an agreement with Russia,” he said.
South Africa’s nuclear energy plans stalled: too expensive
Energy plan stalls on cost of nuclear, Business Day Live, BY CAROL PATON, 15 JULY 2016 THE Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), the government’s long-term plan for electricity generation, is again stuck in the works, despite being six years out of date, with modellers and government officials wrestling over an appropriate price estimate for nuclear energy.
Should the cost of nuclear energy come in too high compared to other technologies, then the nuclear build programme, which is championed by President Jacob Zuma, could be blown out of the water.
The IRP is a 20-year plan that estimates demand, plans for supply, and makes policy decisions on the energy mix based on a range of factors, including energy security and affordability. Regular updates to the IRP — every two years — are crucial to ensure energy security and prevent overbuilding capacity.
In the latest draft, being drawn up by technical experts based at Eskom on behalf of the Department of Energy, the overnight cost for nuclear energy is said to have been estimated at $6,000/kW.
The number comes from several industry sources, who are privy to the information, but was not confirmed by the government. Overnight costs include construction costs, but exclude interest…..
In previous drafts of the IRP, overnight costs for nuclear were estimated at $5028/kW in 2010, and $5800/kW in 2013. The 2013 IRP, which cautioned against nuclear energy due to lower than expected demand and the high risk involved, has never been adopted by the Cabinet.
At the time, it was speculated that the Department of Energy held it back, as it was not nuclear-friendly enough. Instead, the government has continued to use the 2010 IRP, despite its outdated assumptions and modelling, and a wide acknowledgement in the energy industry that its credibility is shot.
The IRP process under way right now is a new attempt to update the plan, which is six years out of date.
But since the modelling team submitted its draft to the department earlier in 2016, the process appears to have stalled. Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson said in September that the new IRP would be completed by March. But the draft is far from finished, and public consultations — which should take place under the policy framework — are still far from a reality……
South Africa’s nuclear sector in crisis
Nuclear sector in crisis as SA weighs options, Business day Live, BY MARK ALLIX, 15 JULY 2016 THE world nuclear industry status report for 2016 may give SA pause for thought about its ambitions to build nuclear power capacity.
The report says the global nuclear industry is in crisis, and renewable energy is taking over……
SA’s government is adamant that nuclear will be part of the energy mix, and of the country’s commitments to cutting carbon emissions. Existing solar and wind energy technologies cannot cater for base-load electricity demand to run modern industries, it says.
Safety and the funding of huge initial financial costs for nuclear reactors remain critical factors, despite the promise of lower carbon emissions, and ultimately, much lower electricity retail costs. Costs of up to R1-trillion have been estimated for SA’s proposed 9,600MW of nuclear power.
Knox Msebenzi, MD of the Nuclear Industry Association of SA, said on Thursday it was difficult to obtain an authoritative figure. The association, whose members included potential nuclear bidders, had not made an independent estimation of what such a project would cost.
“There are a lot of variables, which if not defined, could push the price up or down,” he said.
Project cost estimations could use typical industry accepted valuations. But despite including plenty of local content such as concrete and steel, costs were also subject to possible litigation over projects and exchange rate volatility for imported technologies.
Silas Zimu, the special energy adviser to President Jacob Zuma, said earlier in July that SA would have to build nuclear power plants on a piecemeal basis, according to what it could afford. It would also need to purchase the best technology, amid huge delays in the global nuclear industry…..http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/energy/2016/07/15/nuclear-sector-in-crisis-as-sa-weighs-options
South Africa’s Zuma government backing India’s effort to join Nuclear Suppliers Group
SA backs India to join Nuclear Suppliers Group enca, SOUTH AFRICA Friday 8 July 2016 PRETORIA – South African President Jacob Zuma agreed on Friday to support India’s controversial bid to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), an international body that controls commerce in nuclear materials and technology.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced this at a joint press conference at the Union buildings in Pretoria on Friday after meeting Zuma.
He thanked Zuma for his promise of support in the meeting….
- The bid is controversial because all the current NSG members, including South Africa, are also members of the NPT, the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, which restricts the possession of nuclear weapons to the five major powers, the US, UK, France, Russia and China.
India acquired nuclear weapons in 1974 and so could not join the NPT, which it in any case did not want to because it regards it as discriminatory.
When she was asked earlier this week about this, International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane noted that all current NSG members were also members of the NPT. But she also hinted that in his one-on-one meeting with Modi, Zuma might lend his support to India’s bid…….https://www.enca.com/south-africa/sa-backs-india-to-join-nsg
EDF/AREVA keen to get in on selling nuclear reactors to South Africa
Bullish Areva wants in on SA’s nuclear tender, City Press Yolandi Groenewald 2016-06-
10 France’s state-owned nuclear businesses are focused on winning the lucrative South African nuclear tender despite recent financial difficulties.
The French will bid as EDF/Areva – nuclear technology company Areva sold its reactor business to the state-owned energy utility EDF earlier this year……..
EDF was facing large investments at its French operations. Its investment compromised about €50 billion (R869.6 billion) over 10 to 15 years, which would extend the operating lifespan of its ageing fleet to 60 years……
The French nuclear industry has faced a number of storms during the past year. Areva teetered on the edge of bankruptcy after years of losses wiped out its equity. It was rescued by French state aid and a sale of its reactor business to EDF.
The Flamanville project in France, Areva’s first European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) nuclear pressurised water reactor, is years behind schedule, way over budget and riddled with technical difficulties…….
France, Russia, China, the US and South Korea are competing for what could be South Africa’s biggest procurement project. The contract, estimated to cost between R580 billion and R1.56 trillion, aims to add nuclear capacity of 9 600 megawatts.
The government has said the nuclear programme would be developed at a pace the country can afford……..http://city-press.news24.com/Business/bullish-areva-wants-in-on-sas-nuclear-tender-20160603
South Africa’s Energy Minister again misses legal deadline to file nuclear procurement papers for the High Court
Joemat-Pettersson misses third deadline to file papers in nuclear case http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/energy/2016/06/03/joemat-pettersson-misses-third-deadline-to-file-papers-in-nuclear-case
BY CAROL PATON, ENERGY Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson has missed a third deadline to file papers to oppose an application by the SA Faith Communities Environmental Initiative (Safcei) and Earthlife Africa to have the proposed procurement of nuclear energy declared unconstitutional.
The two groups filed papers in October asking the High Court in Cape Town to rule that government had failed to meaningfully consult the public on the nuclear procurement.
They will also argue that the inter-governmental agreements on nuclear procurement signed with Russia, France, China and the US are illegal as they were not preceded by a determination in the government gazette by the minister.
Safcei and Earthlife Africa said on Friday that this was the third deadline that Joemat-Pettersson had missed in as many weeks.
Government failed to respond by the May 13, and asked for an extension until May 30. Earthlife and Safcei then instructed their lawyers to issue a rule 30A notice, which gave the government until the May 31 to respond.
“On Tuesday June 1, our attorneys were advised that the answering affidavit has been drafted, is currently being reviewed by the Office of the Presidency, and that the State Attorney hopes to be in a position to file it on or about June 7,” they said in a statement.
If this latest deadline is missed, the Safcei/ ELA legal team will approach the courts to force government to comply with the legal time frames. Failing this they will ask the courts to strike out the government defence and for their application to be unopposed.
“We believe that this consistent failure to comply with the legal time frames points to an unaccountable government,” says Liz McDaid, Safcei spokeswoman.
China, South Korea and Russia battle to win Kenya as nuclear customer
Africa Energy: China, Russia and South Korea In Race To Build Kenya’s Nuclear Plant
By Allan Akombo AFKI : June 2, 2016– In less than 24 hours this week Kenya signed two pacts on nuclear energy cooperation with South Korea and Russia, setting the stage for a dead-heat race against China to clinch the east Africa nation’s forthcoming nuclear energy development contract.
The first deal was in Moscow on May 30, 2016 where Russia’s state nuclear agency, Rosatom Deputy Director Nikolai Spasskiy and Deputy Head of the Kenyan Embassy to Russia Hillary N. Kyengo signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that involves the creation of a working group to identify peaceful nuclear projects and also continue consultations on the possibility of building the first nuclear power plant in Kenya.
A day later and thousands of miles away in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi host President Uhuru Kenyatta and Korean President Park Geun-Hye witnessed the signing of a nuclear corporation pact after they held bilateral talks.
The MOU on electric power and nuclear energy development was signed by Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Charles Keter and Korean Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Joo Hyunghwan.
Barely two weeks ago, Rosatom said it plans to sign cooperation agreements with Kenya, Uganda and Zambia to lay the groundwork for an expanded presence in Sub-Saharan Africa beyond its planned bid to build nuclear power plants in South Africa.
Rosatom has voiced confidence in its ability to see off competition from China, France and South Korea in a planned South African tender to build a 9,600 megawatts (MW) nuclear power fleet in the continent’s most industrialized country.
It sees scope, however, for more deals across the region, from the building of plants to supplying reactor fuel.http://afkinsider.com/126827/africa-energy-china-russia-south-korea-race-build-kenyas-nuclear-plant/#sthash.f40J0946.dpuf
Political scandal hangs over South Africa’s nuclear energy plans
How the state capture controversy has influenced South Africa’s nuclear build , Sunday Times, 29 May 16 South Africa is facing a critical decision that could see it investing about R1 trillion – or US$60 billion to $70 billion – in a fleet of new nuclear power stations. Proponents argue that it will greatly increase electrical base-load capacity and generate industrial growth. But opponents believe the high cost would cripple the country economically.
What should be an economic decision has now been clouded by controversy, with political pressure to push through the nuclear build and the increasingly apparent rewards it would bring to politically linked individuals.
The nuclear expansion programme needs to be considered exceptionally carefully given that the required financial commitment is roughly equal to the total South African annual tax revenue. Loan repayments could place a devastating long-term burden on the public and on the economy as a whole……..
South Africa has had remarkable success with speedy, cost-effective installation of renewable energy power plants. In addition to this, technologies for harvesting South Africa’s plentiful wind and solar energy resources are rapidly becoming cheaper, raising the question of whether the country should not invest more in these options rather than in going nuclear.
The argument that nuclear energy provides a stable base load, independent of weather conditions, is mitigated by improvements in energy storage technologies……
Zuma and the Russians The nuclear debate gained a political dimension when President Jacob Zuma and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, started to develop an unusually close relationship. It culminated in an announcement that the Russian nuclear developer, Rosatom, had been awarded the potentially highly lucrative contract to build the new reactors. The agreement was later denied.
Rosatom was considered the preferred contender, with other bidders only there to lend the process legitimacy, according to some observers. The lack of transparency surrounding the process, coupled with a history of corruption in South African mega-projects like the arms deal, has made the whole scheme seem suspicious to the broader public.
A thickening plot
A crucial thread in this saga involves the Shiva uranium mine, about 30km north-west of Pretoria, the country’s executive capital. It originally belonged to a company called Uranium One, a subsidiary of Russia’s Rosatom. It was sold in 2010 to Oakbay Resources, a company controlled by members of the politically connected Gupta family and the president’s son, in a deal that greatly surprised economists.
The mine was deemed unprofitable and thus unattractive to other mining companies. But it was still considered worth a whole lot more than the R270 million paid by Oakbay. The mine would, however, become highly profitable if it became the uranium supplier to the new nuclear power stations. Oakbay and its associates therefore have a very strong incentive for this nuclear build to happen.
It is here that the nuclear build drama feeds into the recent major controversy surrounding alleged state capture, meaning a corrupt system where state officials owe their allegiance to politically connected oligarchs rather than the public interest. This was highlighted by the shock dismissal of Finance Minister Nhanhla Nene, a reported nuclear build sceptic, but also by subsequent allegations of ministerial positionsbeing offered to people by members of the Gupta family.
Political, legal and civil opposition
The nuclear build’s association with the Zuma faction in the ruling African National Congress (ANC) will be a political hot potato for decades to come. ……
A negative nuclear outlook
Building these plants is a risky business proposition, especially for Rosatom, which is implicated in the developing scandal. The recent political mood swing against state capture and a likely credit rating downgrade add to the risk.
Rosatom has suggested a nuclear build financing option that effectively amounts to it providing a loan. It is, however, conceivable that a future government may not honour debt repayments if there is a view that the construction deal was secured irregularly.
The narrow public support base and downright hostility in some quarters to a nuclear build has already effectively stalled local nuclear construction plans. The level of controversy, high costs and potential for further disruption mean that the planned implementation could only proceed under severe social strain.
Such a scenario could very well cost the ruling ANC the 2019 national elections. And the party is becoming increasingly aware of this. As such, it is posited that the nuclear build will not happen any time as soon as planned.
– Hartmut Winkler, Professor of Physics, University of Johannesburg http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/opinion/2016/05/27/How-the-state-capture-controversy-has-influenced-South-Africa%E2%80%99s-nuclear-build
Pentagon’s “small” giant military footprint in Africa
The Pentagon’s War on Accountability: Slush Funds, Smoke and Mirrors, and Funny Money Equal Weapons Systems Galore By William D. Hartung, Tom Dispatch, Reader Supported News, 24 May 16 Colonel Mark Cheadle, a spokesman for U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), recently made a startling disclosure to Voice of America (VOA). AFRICOM, he said, is currently mulling over 11 possible locations for its second base on the continent. If, however, there was a frontrunner among them Cheadle wasn’t about to disclose it. All he would say was that Nigeria isn’t one of the countries in contention.
Writing for VOA, Carla Babb filled in the rest of the picture in terms of U.S. military activities in Africa. “The United States currently has one military base in the east African nation of Djibouti,” she observed. “U.S. forces are also on the ground in Somalia to assist the regional fight against al-Shabab and in Cameroon to help with the multinational effort against Nigeria-based Boko Haram.”
A day later, Babb’s story disappeared. Instead, there was a new article in which she noted that “Cheadle had initially said the U.S. was looking at 11 locations for a second base, but later told VOA he misunderstood the question.” Babb reiterated that the U.S. had only the lone military base in Djibouti and stated that “[o]ne of the possible new cooperative security locations is in Cameroon, but Cheadle did not identify other locations due to ‘host nation sensitivities.’”
U.S. troops have, indeed, been based at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti since 2002. In that time, the base has grown from 88 acres to about 600 acres and has seen more than $600 million in construction and upgrades already awarded or allocated. It’s also true that U.S. troops, as Babb notes, are operating in Somalia — from at least two bases — and the U.S. has indeed set up a base in Cameroon. As such, the “second” U.S. base in Africa, wherever it’s eventually located, will actually be more like the fifth U.S. base on the continent. That is, of course, if you don’t count Chabelley Airfield, a hush-hush drone base the U.S. operates elsewhere in Djibouti, or the U.S. staging areas, cooperative security locations, forward operating locations, and other outposts in Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad,Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Senegal, the Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, and Uganda, among other locales. When I counted late last year, in fact, I came up with 60 such sites in 34 countries. And just recently, Missy Ryan of the Washington Post added to that number when she disclosed that “American Special Operations troops have been stationed at two outposts in eastern and western Libya since late 2015.”
To be fair, the U.S. doesn’t call any of these bases “bases” — except when officials forget to keep up the fiction. For example, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 included a $50 million request for the construction of an “airfield and base camp at Agadez, Niger.” But give Cheadle credit for pushing a fiction that persists despite ample evidence to the contrary.
It isn’t hard, of course, to understand why U.S. Africa Command has set up a sprawling network of off-the-books bases or why it peddles misinformation about its gigantic “small” footprint in Africa. It’s undoubtedly for the same reason that they stonewall me on even basic information about their operations. The Department of Defense, from tooth to tail, likes to operate in the dark.
Today, TomDispatch regular Bill Hartung reveals another kind of Pentagon effort to obscure and obfuscate involving another kind of highly creative accounting: think slush funds, secret programs, dodgy bookkeeping, and the type of financial malfeasance that could only be carried out by an institution that is, by its very nature, too big to fail (inside the Beltway if not on the battlefield).
Rejecting both accurate accounting and actual accountability — from the halls of the Pentagon to austere camps in Africa — the Defense Department has demonstrated a longstanding commitment to keeping Americans in the dark about the activities being carried out with their dollars and in their name. Luckily, Hartung is willing to shine a bright light on the Pentagon’s shady practices……..-Nick Turse, TomDispatch http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/37052-the-pentagons-war-on-accountability-slush-funds-smoke-and-mirrors-and-funny-money-equal-weapons-systems-galore
South Africa’s govt coy about its secret nuclear deal with Russia
Govt misses deadline to open up alleged Russian nuclear deal http://businesstech.co.za/news/energy/124645/govt-misses-deadline-to-open-up-alleged-russian-nuclear-deal/ By News24Wire May 24, 2016 The government must respect the rules and commit to following the timeframes, leading environmentalists said after the state once again failed to submit answering affidavits in the court case regarding its nuclear energy agreement with Russia.
Earthlife SA and the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (Safcei) claim that Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson acted unconstitutionally in not submitting the government’s nuclear deal with Russia to Parliament.
Following the Department of Energy (DoE) and Joemat-Pettersson’s failure to meet the original May 13 deadline to submit answering affidavits, the State Attorney on Monday said they could also not meet the 20 May Rule 30A notice deadline, a rule that prohibits further delays.
“Unfortunately the first and the second respondents are still not in a position to file answering affidavits and are still in the process of drafting same,” the State Attorney’s office said in a letter to the environmentalists on Monday.
“As already pointed out the respondents have difficulty in finalising their answering affidavits due inter alia to the bulk of the founding affidavit, as supplemented, the complexity of the application as well as the importance thereof for all parties concerned. The incomplete draft already runs to more than 200 pages.
“The first and the second respondents will endeavour to have their answering affidavits finalised in terms of the provisions of the notice … by Tuesday, 31 May 2016.”
Safcei spokesperson Liz McDaid said on Monday that “it is not unexpected that government once again fails to meet their own deadlines”.
“But what is of concern is that government lawyers are even not committing to the legal rule 30a notice deadline, but only going to ‘endeavour’ to meet it.
“If the country is to function as a democratic state under the rule of law, then the state must respect the rules and commit to following the timeframes, which are set out under the law,” she said.
In October last year, Earthlife Africa JHB and Safcei filed court papers challenging the constitutionality of the intergovernmental framework agreements the DoE signed with Russia, China, South Korea and the USA on the country’s planned nuclear development.
Safcei said it waited for Joemat-Pettersson to provide the records of the decisions that are being challenged. “In that period, Safcei and Earthlife Africa generously allowed the government extensions, which eventually meant that government only provided the requisite documents on February 16 2016.”
Legal documents indicate that South Africa did sign a nuclear deal with Russia, claim the environmentalists in their affidavit.
Here, they said “the Russian agreement was entered into unlawfully, but makes (an) internationally binding commitment to buy a fleet of nuclear reactors from Russia”.
From the state law adviser’s explanatory memorandum that was prepared in November 2013 but only revealed recently to Safcei/ELA, “it is evident that the Russian agreement is to build reactors and an enrichment plant”, the group said.
They said other subsequent agreements would “cover the details of how it is to be financed, not if it would go ahead”. The court case appears to be stalling the country’s bid to launch its request for proposals for the 9.6GW nuclear procurement programme. This was supposed to occur on April 1.
Russia looks to nuclear colonise Africa
Russia’s Rosatom seeks cooperation agreements for African nuclear expansion By Wendell Roelf CAPE TOWN (Reuters) 20 May 16, – Russia’s state nuclear agency Rosatom plans to sign cooperation agreements with Kenya, Uganda and Zambia to lay the groundwork for an expanded presence in Sub-Saharan Africa beyond its planned bid to build nuclear power plants in South Africa.
Rosatom has voiced confidence in its ability to see off competition from China, France and South Korea in a planned South African tender to build a 9,600 megawatts (MW) nuclear power fleet in the continent’s most industrialised country. It sees scope, however, for more deals across the region, from the building of plants to supplying reactor fuel……
Victor Polikarpov, Rosatom’s regional vice-president for Sub-Saharan Africa, said on Thursday.
“We want South Africa to become our springboard for the rest of Africa. We want to create a nuclear cluster, a group of companies here that can operate with us in Africa.”
President Jacob Zuma’s government was checking the financial and commercial impact of its nuclear ambitions before it issues a tender.
South Africa’s 1,800 MW Koeberg station near Cape Town is the continent’s only commercial nuclear power plant at present, though Rosatom is building a nuclear plant in Egypt that is expected to be completed by 2022.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s nuclear energy corporation Necsa is being encouraged by government to revive nuclear enrichment and conversion facilities to reduce dependence on imported reactor fuels……
Rosatom’s Polikarpov, however, said it might not be viable for South Africa to restart enrichment facilities dismantled before white minority rule ended in 1994.
“Another solution is just to have fuel supplied from Russia. We can guarantee supply of fuel non-stop for the duration of operation of all power plants,” he said.
Nigeria, however, looks a more distant prospect as its economy contracts amid the global plunge in oil prices.
“Given the extremely bad economic situation in Nigeria today, it might take a bit longer. But the government and the new president are still determined to go nuclear,” Polikarpov said.
(Editing by James Macharia and David Goodman) http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFKCN0YA1CH
Russia plans for Africa to be its nuclear colony, starting with south Africa
How Russia Is Expanding Its Vast Nuclear Empire Into Africa, AFK Insider By Dana Sanchez May 19, 2016, Russia’s government-owned nuclear agency Rosatom hopes to use South Africa as a springboard into the rest Africa as it seeks to expand its influence on the continent by building nuclear power plants.
Rosatom plans to sign framework cooperation agreements with Kenya, Uganda and Zambia, adding to those already made with South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana, Reuters reported.
Right now, South Africa may be the best prospect. Nigeria looks less likely as its economy contracts in the global oil price plunge.
“Given the extremely bad economic situation in Nigeria today, it might take a bit longer. But the government and the new president are still determined to go nuclear,” said Viktor Polikarpov, Rosatom’s vice-president of sub-Saharan Africa.
South Africa in 2015 approved a plan to develop up to 600 megawatts of nuclear capacity by 2030 as part of a bigger plan to build 9,600 megawatts of nuclear power at up to nine new nuclear reactors……
Environmental activist group Greenpeace warned the ANC in 2015 to abandon nuclear build plans or face massive resistance, NuclearNews reported.
“The ANC needs to know that if it does go for the nuclear option as part of the (energy) mix, then they are on a collision course with the broader spectrum of the South African civil society,” said Greenpeace Director Kumi Naidoo said on Monday that the ANC should “take nuclear off the table.
Russia has competition to do the nuclear build from China, France and South Korea, Reuters reported. It’s already planning to seek more deals across the region that range from building power plants to supplying reactor fuel.
“What we are targeting is to build South Africa as a nuclear cluster of nuclear industries so that we can use our partners and our partnership for our expansion into Africa,” Polikarpov said in an interview Tuesday in Cape Town.
Rosatom can offer financing options, Polikarpov said, according to Bloomberg. These include a contract with a state-export credit offered to the government of South Africa, a buyer-owner operator agreement, a public-private partnership, or a combination of them…….
The allure of the turnkey nuclear power plant, built, owned and operated by Rosatom, allows governments across the world to embrace such projects. But for Russia they are much more than a major economic export. They are another geopolitical tool, allowing the Kremlin to tie up strategic governments into long-term cooperation. http://afkinsider.com/126032/how-russia-is-expanding-its-vast-nuclear-empire-into-africa/
South Africa: renewable energy growth, promise that nuclear development will be “corruption-free”
South Africa targets more renewable power, nuclear expansion to go ahead
*Renewable energy seen contributing 17,800 MW by 2030
* Nuclear expansion process to be affordable, above board
Africa’s most industrialised country has turned to solar and wind power to diversify its energy mix and help plug electricity shortages. The first 47 renewable energy independent power producers are due to be fully operational by July.
It also hopes to install 9,600 megawatts of nuclear power in the next 15 years to address chronic electricity shortages but the cost of the project estimated at about $100 billion has raised budgetary concerns.
Tina Joemat-Pettersson reaffirmed in parliament that the planned nuclear expansion would be “corruption free”, following concerns by opposition parties over the tender process and about the affordability of the project in a country whose economic growth has stagnated.
The department of energy would issue a request for proposal to confirm market appetite for the fleet of nuclear plants and help secure commercial and financial information for the government to make a final decision, she said.
“We will only implement what our country can afford,” Joemat-Pettersson said.
Forecasts for growth in South Africa have fallen to below 1 percent for 2016 as a global commodity slump drags on and rising inflation rates curb domestic spending.
South Africa Dept of Energy to press on woth nuclear power despite huge costs
Department of energy presses ahead with nuclear, Business Day Live, BY BEKEZELA PHAKATHI, 10 MAY 2016 THE Department of Energy said on Monday it was still confident of conducting a successful nuclear-procurement process.
SA is aiming to install 9,600MW of nuclear power within the next 15 years to tackle the electricity shortages. However, the cost of the project, estimated at about $100bn, continues to be a major budgetary headache for government.
Earlier this year, the Treasury put brakes on nuclear spend, putting more emphasis on gas and smaller coal-fired power stations to attend to the electricity crisis. It said in its budget review that the nuclear energy newbuild programme would proceed after a “thorough and transparent tender process”.
There have been reports that the Treasury’s reluctance to sanction the procurement of the new nuclear power stations was one of the major reasons behind the sacking of Nhlanhla Nene as finance minister in December.
The National Nuclear Regulator expects to finalise a decision by 2018 on Eskom’s two new site licence applications. ……http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/energy/2016/05/10/department-of-energy-presses-ahead-with-nuclear
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