By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Minister of Electricity and Energy, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, says government will soon make an announcement on plans to expand South Africa’s foray into nuclear energy.
Ramokgopa delivered the opening address at the G20 Nuclear Energy Ministerial Conference held in Durban.
The inaugural G20 Nuclear Energy Ministerial Conference was held at the Coastlands Hotel in Umhlanga, Durban, underscoring the continent’s rising role in the global nuclear energy sector.
The minister said, “our ambition is to build a new job program [of] at least initially the size of 5000 megawatts, and we think that we can derive the benefits of industrialisation and ensuring that there is exponential increase of the skills that are required to support that build program.
He highlighted that small modular reactors [SMR] present a “pristine opportunity” for expansion going into the future.
Ramokgopa said that the advances in technology and science offer a pristine opportunity to ensure that there’s a rapid deployment of modern-day technologies of nuclear and SMR (small modular reactors).
“This gives us that opportunity.”
He highlighted nuclear energy’s role in providing a reliable, green base load. This, he explained, is crucial for the rapid and exponential integration of renewables, essential for reconfiguring the energy mix in various regions.
He said they needed to be able to answer doubters.
“One is to project nuclear in a negative light, and principal amongst those is financing requirements to support the nuclear build programme. Of course, as we say, it’s an Achilles’ heel that requires the necessary attention,” Ramokgopa said.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general Rafael Mariano Grossi said nuclear long-term operation (LTO), is the easiest, cheapest, most effective way to keep CO2 emissions low.
He noted that energy infrastructure has been around for a century.
“So much for those who say that nuclear energy is expensive. A century of clean power, and this is what we are trying to do and to help,” Grossi said.
The World Bank and IAEA signed an agreement in June in Paris, making it easier and more affordable for countries to implement nuclear programs, particularly regarding LTO.
Grossi said that the “landmark” agreement was “a sign of the world’s return to realism on nuclear power” and would open the door for other multilateral development banks and private investors to consider nuclear power as a viable tool for energy security.
He called the partnership a “crucial first step” to clearing the financing path for small modular reactor technology, which has the potential to cleanly power developing economies.
He added that they are working closely with national regulators.
“Without independent, strong regulation, nuclear cannot thrive, cannot grow,” Grossi said. “So this is why we at the IAEA are supporting regulation.”