Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe;Photo: Felix Drangamandra/Gallo
MMineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has asked the United States to allow South Africa to develop its uranium deposits as fuel for nuclear power generation.
South Africa imports nuclear fuel components for the Koeberg power plant from the United States and France. Countries that source such materials from the United States enter into agreements with them.
The agreement is subject to certain safeguards and security measures outlined in Section 123 of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act of 1954, which are intended to prevent recipient countries from developing nuclear bombs or nuclear weapons.
Speaking at the Africa Energy Indaba on Tuesday, Mantashe stressed the importance of harnessing the country's uranium resources for domestic nuclear power generation.
He said the uranium would be used as fuel instead of importing it from other countries, adding that the fuel would not be used for military technology. “We have energy, so we want to use it as energy.”
Mantashe's call echoes an appeal in negotiations between South Africa and the United States, which have stalled because South Africa has asserted its sovereignty to independently produce nuclear fuel.
South Africa is in talks with the US to renew Koeberg's license to extend the life of the power plant. Koeberg is Africa's only nuclear power plant and is responsible for 5% of South Africa's total electricity generation.
Mantashe said that despite the conditions set by the US, South Africa would proceed with the development of new nuclear power plants in parallel with Koeberg, with the aim of adding 2,500 megawatts of power generation capacity.
“We invest [in nuclear]But we have to do it at a pace and rate that the country can afford,” Mantashe said.
He added that the country does not intend to repeat the mistakes of the past. Under President Jacob Zuma, the country's efforts to procure 9,600MW of nuclear power through Rosatom, Russia's state-run nuclear power group, were halted in 2017 by Earthlife Africa and the Southern African Faith Community's Environmental Research Institute, which halted the nuclear program. It was discontinued upon application to the court.
Mantashe cited the European Union's decision to include nuclear power and gas in the green investment category in 2022. He said this should send a signal to the rest of the world to include nuclear power in their plans for transitioning to low carbon emissions.
Last year, Minister of Electricity Kgoshyensho Ramogopa announced that the country is moving ahead with plans to add two additional 500MW of nuclear power capacity to be completed within 10 to 12 years, as set out in the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan.
Prime Minister Ramokgopa said at the time that building the power plant would take time, but that they were planning ahead to avoid the power shortage the country is currently facing.
Participants at this week's Energy Indaba lobbied for nuclear power and gas as the main clean solutions to South Africa's energy crisis. They argued that nuclear power was the cheapest, safest, and most reliable option for the country's transition.
But energy expert Mark Borchers said other experts needed to explain why nuclear power is the better option, given that it takes longer and is more expensive to build.
Speaking at the panel discussion, Titus Mate, CEO of the South African National Institute for Energy Development, said Africa needs reliable energy to fight poverty, while also highlighting the importance of transitioning to cleaner energy. also admitted. He added that nuclear power, gas and coal can provide jobs.
Spring Lights Gas chief executive Mzi Tihokolo said South Africa should not be complacent about its plans to support gas and nuclear technology because it has the capacity to provide baseload.
The view that certain types of power plants are better at providing large amounts of continuously available electricity, the so-called “baseload”, is that renewable energy is the best solution to the country's energy crisis. It has been used to refute this claim.
