Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson on Tuesday dismissed reports that the nuclear build programme would cost R1 trillion.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know where the R1 trillion figure came from,\u201d Joemat-Pettersson told the Portfolio Committee on Energy in Cape Town, \u201ccertainly not from us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The country is in the process of procuring a nuclear fleet to generate 9,600 megawatts of power, and hopes to finalise nuclear build plans by the end of 2015.<\/p>\n
South Africa has already signed framework agreements with Russia, France, China, South Korea and the US, and is finalising agreements with Canada and Japan.<\/p>\n
Joemat-Pettersson said that National Treasury is driving the process of creating a funding model for the nuclear build process. \u201cOnce it is approved by cabinet it will be brought to the committee,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The minister said it is important for the committee not to be \u201cbamboozled\u201d by stories entering the public domain.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are committed to transparency,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are not going to compromise our country in any way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNuclear energy can only be procured with legal prescripts of the country and only after a thorough assessment… We are committed to a thorough cost-benefit analysis and the cost-benefit analysis is part of the procurement process,\u201d said Joemat-Pettersson.<\/p>\n
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