Portfolio Committee on Energy tours South Africa's Phelindaba facility

The Parliament of South Africa said the Portfolio Committee on Energy completed an oversight visit to the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa's (NECSA) Phelindaba facility on Wednesday.

The primary focus of this visit was to study the facility's operations and whether the company is prepared for a new nuclear build program.

The committee said the government needs to have open discourse regarding the program and that the secrecy surrounding the project needs to be lifted.

"(The) government needs to engage the country on the positive and negative aspects of the build program; issues of confidentiality need to be explained where they exist," Committee Chairman Fikile Majola said.

The committee also expressed concern over NECSA not releasing information on a report that came from an investigation by the country's Department of Energy into state-owned companies.

The committee also took part in a joint oversight meeting with Public Enterprises of MegaWatt Park, and the company briefed the committee on the challenges it faces.

The Phelindaba facility is NECSA's primary nuclear energy research facility, and it houses the company's Nuclear Skills Development Center, which oversees specialized training in nuclear engineering and other highly technical areas.