South Africa's nuclear-build program begins to take shape

South Africa's Department of Minerals and Energy issued a statement of progression recently relating to the country’s nuclear build program.

In the statement, officials said the work would move forward and that the build program would officially be implemented. Several aspects were under consideration prior to the decisions being made, including funding models, inter-governmental agreements and overall risks to the program.

The program would facilitate the development of 9.6 gigawatts of electrical generating capacity through nuclear power plants. It was decided at a meeting of the South African Cabinet following the submission of an Energy Security Cabinet Sub-Committee report that a request for proposal would be issued and that the financing model would largely depend on the response of the market. This report took into consideration the Energy and Treasury Departments' work.

The department said it will focus on keeping transparency measures in effect and that the funding model would be as cost effective as possible.

The next phase for the development of the build program will be the completion of the proposal and to determine the finalized funding mechanisms for the program before it can be implemented and take shape.