Eskom abandons nuclear plans

[BTTB]

Eskom abandons nuclear plans

Johannesburg - Power utility Eskom on Friday said that it was "not in a position to invest in nuclear", and has terminated the talks it was holding with global nuclear technology providers Westinghouse and Areva

The title suggests that Nuclear Power is not an option which I think is completely indifferent from what Eskom has been saying all along. We need Nuclear, especially in the Western Cape as otherwise the Coal Fired Power Stations will never cope with sending enough power all around the country.

I think Eskom has put it's foot down in regards to the price that Westinghouse and Areva have quoted.
This might be closer to the truth.
Wait for Episode 2 next year when one or both of these companies and possibly others come running back with their tails between their legs looking for business and a new Tender Process is entertained. I may be completely wrong, but this is my hunch in the matter.

 

[Kloofvreter]

Nuclear FTW. Coal FTL.

 

[Budza]

Solar FTW
Wind FTW
Waves FTW

Non-Renewables FTL.

 

[semiautomatix]

Other countries have renewed their nuclear programmes with good reason. It is safer and greener than traditional coal plants.

Renewable energy requires a massive initial investment, but does not take the same time to construct.

These are all options but fossil fuel plants should be abandoned!

 

[semiautomatix]

I saw Koeberg for the first time 2 weeks ago - so weird how it doesn't have those massive Simpsonesque cooling towers you expect from a nuclear plant.

 

[Nuro]

Solar FTW
Wind FTW
Waves FTW

Non-Renewables FTL.

All to impractical/expensive.

Nuclear is the only feasible option when dealing with millions of people, given out current technological status

 

[BTTB]

/Dons tin hat

1. The Ratings Agencies who downgraded Eskom are part of the bigger picture.
Ratings Agencies seek to undermine Eskom's Financial Standing so that the International Central Bankers can loan money to it at even higher interest rates. We are talking Billions here so 1% move either way may work out to a fortune in servicing charges which we in the end have to pay for through taxes and bills.

2. Areva et al thought they had Eskom by the balls when the wheels came off after the bolt incident at Koeberg and load shedding started. This all happened at the peak of the Business Cycle when Construction Companies like Murray and Roberts and Aveng had excellent forward books, so much so that they could virtually quote at any price.

3. The Bolt Incident was intended to wake Government up from it's stupor so that it could lift the Moratorium on the building of Power Stations. That was all.

4. International Companies like Westinghouse and Areva, local Companies like Murray & Roberts and Aveng, altogether thought they would make a killing out of the Eskom Crisis.

5. Eskom has the ability to hold on, but can the Companies above? At the end of the day the Shareholders would rather choose to do business.

/Removes tin hat

 

[EvilDarkElf]

This all gets much more complicated when one considers how far behind schedule PBMR is. I know some people there and the pressure is really mounting to actually start building - or find alternative finance.

We need the stations any way you look at it, but we also need a lot of skills and knowledge transfer to be a part of the deal. It helps stuff-all for ESKOM to have expensive nuclear plants and noone to operate them. I don't know anything about the details, but I suspect that more than lowering the price, ESKOM needs more ito after-sales support, especially training, and maybe some free fuel.

 

[ToxicBunny]

I actually tend to agree with BTTB on this one...

I think someone at Eksdom actually grew a brain for a second and realised the price we would pay for the Nuclear plants was WAY out of kilter.. and told Areva and Westinghouse to pack their bags and bugger off.... Should this financial crisis continue for much longer, I'm thinking they'll come back at a much more reasonable price.

 

[Peder]

Solar FTW
Wind FTW
Waves FTW

Non-Renewables FTL.

Solar is good... in the desert
Wind is good... at the coast where there is allot of open land... but they make ALLOT of noise and are an eyesore too
Waves are good... but it doesn't do good for the natural ecological of the sea, although i think if they can put some wind turbines down in the sea i think it will work and have less of an impact on the ecology

 

[BTTB]

I actually tend to agree with BTTB on this one...

I think someone at Eksdom actually grew a brain for a second and realised the price we would pay for the Nuclear plants was WAY out of kilter.. and told Areva and Westinghouse to pack their bags and bugger off.... Should this financial crisis continue for much longer, I'm thinking they'll come back at a much more reasonable price.

Thanks ToxicBunny.

120 Billion is a flipping lot of money for a couple of holes in the ground with concrete poured in.
If we knew how much it cost to build Koeberg I could work out a present value of the project into today's money. But then again I heard in the end we paid through the neck for Koeberg thanks to the French.

Other than the actual cost of the project, at what rate of interest would we have to pay to the International Bankers, taking into account the current financial crisis in world markets and the Ratings Agency downgrades.

I still think the Ratings Agencies are full of hot air. In all likelihood I can assume that in 50 years time we will still have Eskom, but will we have the Ratings Agency? Eskom is here to stay and if it should fail then basically something untoward has happened to the whole world and then we are fscked anyway.

The shareholders of the 2 Nuclear Companies Areva and Westinghouse and perhaps others like the Russians may well want to still do business with Eskom.
I notice the Russians have signed deals with Venezuela for a Nuclear Program. South Africa have signed deals with Venezuela for an Oil Program. All buddy buddy in International Politics at the moment.
It may well be that our Socialist Rulers are seeking to bring in another bidder to foster their own political agendas.
In this day and age I am open to all sorts of reasons as to why Eskom is doing what it is. Maybe it is just the money, but then nothing else makes sense in what Eskom have been saying all along, in trying to produce more Electricity through means other than Coal.