South Africa’s nuclear plans are “national suicide”

The Sunday Times has reported that South Africa’s nuclear trajectory looks unstoppable, and the cost for the nuclear project is likely to be between R500 billion and R1 trillion.

Apart from Russia’s state-owned Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation, there are four other companies which could run the project.

They are France’s Areva, Westinghouse Electric, China’s State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation, and South Korea’s Korea Electric Power Corporation.

In October, National Treasury allocated R200m to the Department of Energy for preparatory work to consider the costs, benefits, and risks of building four more nuclear power stations in South Africa.

Opposition to nuclear plans

Many people are opposed to South Africa’s nuclear plans, including the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).

In 2014, NUM said it does not support “any temptations to employ nuclear energy as part of the solutions for sustainable energy”.

“We, therefore, encourage government to take out nuclear as part of the energy mix. The risks and dangers of this element of energy far outweigh the benefits experienced by humankind.”

The union said the economy of South Africa cannot afford to build a R1-trillion nuclear plant.

The Sunday Times quoted NUM spokesperson Livhuwani Mammburu as saying that the country’s nuclear investment will be “national suicide”.

The Democratic Alliance said earlier this year that the government’s R1-trillion nuclear build plans are going to turn South Africa’s energy crisis into a jobs crisis.

DA leader Mmusi Maimane said the nuclear deal will drag the country’s economy back, and will cost thousands of South Africans their jobs.

“Whichever funding model is chosen, you can rest assured that it will be paid for by the South African taxpayer, and that we can expect substantial tariff increases over many years.”

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