Minister of Electricity, Kgosiensho Ramokgopa. (GCIS)
South Africa will develop its nuclear generating capacity based on science as part of a just transition to cleaner renewable energy such as wind, solar and hydropower, Power and Energy Minister Kosientsho Ramokgopa said on Thursday.
This was despite counterarguments from environmentalists he called “emotional lobbyists” who argued the dangers of nuclear power and radioactive waste disposal. They did so without paying attention to the science, he said.
Speaking at the Nuclear Summit in Pretoria, Ramokgopa said the development of 2,500 megawatts of new nuclear power is certainly on the agenda as part of the country's future energy mix, as highlighted in the Integrated Resource Plan 2019 (IRP2019).
He said the government recently withdrew the January 2024 gazette notice recording the ministerial decision on the procurement of nuclear power plants under the Electricity Regulatory Act to ensure that the public participation process was transparent, “clean” and “democratic”.
Environmental activists, including the South African Faith Community Environmental Institute, Earth Life Africa and the Democratic Alliance, had challenged the procedural fairness and legality of the High Court ruling.
Ramokgopa said that while the use and popularity of renewable energy is growing, there is “very little” discussion about nuclear power among scientists.
“Where are the nuclear people? Because we have a glorious track record of 76 years of contributions to science and technology, at least in the nuclear field.
“We are responsible for providing electricity for the purpose of electrification,” he said.
“We have entered a realm and era of lobbyists and those in the evolving energy complex who have 'own' technological know-how and who have the ability and potential to undermine and discredit technologies that are not backed by science and evidence.”
Ramokgopa said the scientific community had a duty to dispel “these myths” about the dangers of nuclear power.
The minister said politicians and policymakers had also “tarnished” the technology's reputation with allegations of “fraud, leaks, corruption, manipulation” and waste of funds.
“This is what non-scientific people who don't have any scientific basis use to refute and invalidate arguments,” he said.
Ramokgopa said the government would announce its next steps on the nuclear energy plan “in the next week or so” as some fundamental assumptions highlighted in the IRP2019 plan, such as Eskom's generation performance, had changed.
“If there are complexities in the 2,500MW plan, if the process is flawed, and in our opinion, after an objective study of the process, it is flawed, then we have an obligation to retract it and to fix it so that we are not confusing science with process, because if you get one step wrong in the process, you are inviting legal experts into the realm of science,” he said.
“We've organised the process and made it as democratic as possible. Anyone who has an objection can do so on the basis of science. It's important that the process is credible.”
Ramokgopa said the summit had brought together the country's top scientists to tackle nuclear issues and make it “fashionable, funky, youthful and feminine”.
“My point is, nuclear energy is part of the energy mix. Nuclear energy is part of the future. It's essential to achieving energy sovereignty in this country. Science has to trump emotion and politics.”
He said nuclear power is also competitive from a capital cost perspective because small modular reactors that can be placed closer to consumption sources would eliminate the need for Eskom to expand electricity grids and the country could also export nuclear energy technology to other parts of the continent.
Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (Necsa) chief executive Loyiso Tiabushe said the R2.6 billion revenue business was “highly profitable” and that 60% of revenue came from overseas sales in the United States, Europe and Asia.
The state-owned enterprise is responsible for processing raw materials, including uranium enrichment, research and development in nuclear and radiation sciences, in cooperation with domestic and international institutions.
“Nexa is on the cutting edge in that we were the first in the world to transition our reactors from highly enriched uranium to low enriched uranium, and the rest of the world is following suit,” he said. “Our isotopes have 20 percent of the global market. We need to maintain that share and improve it wherever we can.”
The company employs 1,600 people, but that number could triple if plans for nuclear expansion go ahead, he said.
Alan Carolissen, chief executive of the National Radioactive Waste Management Association, said misconceptions about radioactive waste and nuclear energy needed to be cleared up.
“Right now, the discussion is about nuclear energy – the power side. Nobody is telling Africa or the world what we are doing in terms of producing radioisotopes. Without nuclear energy, you can't have a CT scan. You can't have radiation therapy.”
“It's not the nuclear technology that's corrupting. It's the people that are corrupting,” he said.