By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Minister of Energy and Electricity Dr. Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says South Africa will forge ahead with plans to build a new nuclear plant and revive its modular nuclear reactor program.
Ramokgopa briefed the media on South Africa’s Nuclear Energy Program on Sunday, 16 November 2025.
He said the move marks a decisive step towards revitalising South Africa’s nuclear capabilities and contributing to global nuclear technology innovation.
The new plant, to be built in Duynefontein in the Cape Town metro, will add four gigawatts of nuclear capacity initially, Ramakgopa said.
The country has also received approvals to extend the life of its existing Koeberg nuclear station to 2045, the minister said.
Key infrastructure facilities to be reopened include a fuel development laboratory and helium test facility, and new nuclear waste sites will also be established, he added.
The government intends to enlist international investors and technology partners to help finance and design the projects, Ramakgopa said.
A revised Integrated Resource Plan, approved by the cabinet in October, envisions R2.23 trillion in energy investment by 2042, with nuclear playing a growing role as South Africa seeks to reduce its reliance on coal-fired power.
A modular pebble-bed reactor concept, first proposed by state-owned utility Eskom in 1999, was once touted as a technology that could be licensed to other utilities, potentially generating billions of rand in annual revenue.
But, after spending almost billions on development, South Africa put the project on hold in 2010.
However the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) has indicated that it will move to assess what remains of the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) intellectual property, which was mothballed in 2010, before initiating a process to select a partner to co-develop the nuclear technology.
It was calculated that a further R30-billion would be required to commercialise the technology, with about R10-billion having already been spent on its development at the time.
CEO Loyiso Tyabashe has welcomed Cabinet’s decision to lift the PBMR from care and maintenance and transfer custodianship of the small modular reactor (SMR) technology to Necsa.
Ramokgopa, he said the immediate focus would be to reactivate the physical assets associated with the PBMR.
These included the fuel development laboratory for nuclear fuel qualification and the helium test facility for systems testing and reactor readiness.