Energy minister Gwede Mantashe says that South Africa will pursue “affordable” nuclear builds in line with the government’s energy plans.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Reuters<\/a><\/strong>, Mantashe said that nuclear energy as part of the country’s future energy mix has always been on the table.<\/p>\n “The fact that we suspected corruption (in the previously floated Russia deal) doesn\u2019t mean that nuclear is irrelevant for the country in 2019,” he said.<\/p>\n “It comes back to a resolution we took as a government: not going big bang into nuclear, but going at a pace and price that the country can afford. Go modular, go at a pace and price that the country can afford,” Mantashe said.<\/p>\n Nuclear energy emerged as a major topic in the latter years of the Jacob Zuma administration, becoming a point of contention as the South African government appeared to hurriedly push through a R1 trillion-plus nuclear energy plan that the country could simply not afford.<\/p>\n The former president wanted to build as many as eight nuclear reactors, in partnership with Russian nuclear energy groups, which would have the capacity to generate 9,600 megawatts of energy.<\/p>\n However, the ANC, under president Cyril Ramaphosa, all but abandoned those plans<\/a><\/strong> when he took control of the party, switching to a harder push for renewable energy in its place.<\/p>\n In the party’s 2019 national election manifesto, nary a mention was made of nuclear energy as part of the country’s future energy mix, with the party instead promising to promote renewables, bring Eskom into the market as a key player in that sector, and to dedicate resources to upskilling and training people to deal with the renewable energy future.<\/p>\n