SA nuclear energy costs are classified: report

·18 Sep 2015

Documents that explore the cost of South Africa’s planned 9,600MW nuclear project are classified, according to a report by Business Day.

The publication put in a request to see the records through the Open Democracy Advice centre, under the Promotion of Access to Information Act.

However, it was denied access to any reports – with deputy director-general of the department of energy stating that they contained sensitive information.

“The disclosure of such information will compromise negotiations or prejudice commercial competition as far as third parties are concerned,” she said.

This is not the first time questions about the cost of country’s nuclear build plans have been raised.

Initial estimates from the government put the cost at R500 billion, but many experts say this is unrealistic, and the region of R1 trillion is more likely.

Vladimir Slivyak, a Russian environmental policy expert who first leaked Russia’s agreement with South Africa, said the cost of building eight nuclear reactors would cost R1.37 trillion if Russia’s Rosatom wins the bid.

Rosatim has since distanced itself from reports stating that it had won the bid to build the reactors.

According to the Democratic Alliance, whether its R500 billion or R1 trillion, the project is simply unaffordable.

“Whichever funding model is chosen, you can rest assured that it will be paid for by the South African taxpayer, and that we can expect substantial tariff increases over many years,” said DA leader Mmusi Maimane.

“Until the government tells us how much the nuclear deal will cost, how we plan to pay for it, and how they intend to choose the preferred bidder, we cannot begin to entertain the notion of going down this path.”