State reviews Eskom's role in nuclear

Deputy director-general for nuclear energy in the Department of Energy Zizamele Mbambo has been attending the Brics summit in Ufa, Russia. Picture: SOWETAN/VATHISWA RUSELO

A TOP government official has expressed concern about Eskom's ability to own and operate the country's new nuclear plants owing to the parastatal's financial weakness and doubts about its capacity to take on an additional project of this size.

Deputy director-general for nuclear energy in the Department of Energy Zizamele Mbambo, who is the leading figure in the nuclear procurement process, said in an interview on Thursday that the government "was reviewing the mandates of its state-owned enterprises to determine how each one can play a role in the nuclear build".

In terms of SA's nuclear policy of 2008 Eskom is the designated owner and operator of all nuclear power plants.

Mr Mbambo said "as Eskom is busy with Medupi and Kusile and has funding constraints" the role of all state-owned companies was being reviewed.

Eskom would play a role in the process, as would the Nuclear Energy Corporation of SA and the National Nuclear Regulator. Medupi and Kusile are large coal-fired power stations.

"An announcement will be made shortly on the owner-operator and on which state-owned enterprise would perform what type of mandate," he said.

Mr Mbambo was attending the Brics summit in Ufa, Russia, where the Department of Energy signed two memoranda of understanding with Russian state nuclear company Rosatom, which is hoping to win the bid to build the plants.

The agreements include a commitment from Rosatom to facilitate the studies of 200 South African personnel at Russian institutions in preparation for the build and an agreement to run a joint public awareness campaign in SA on the benefits of nuclear energy. This will build on previous co-operation initiatives Rosatom has in place with North West University.

For the past 20 months there has been growing concern among the public that a deal with Russia has already been struck to build the plants due to the increasingly cosy relationship between President Jacob Zuma and Russian president Vladimir Putin and aggressive public relations campaigning by Rosatom.

Mr Mbambo said on Thursday that the new memoranda did not give Russia the edge in the procurement race. "This does not mean that Russia has got the deal. All it means is that the two countries are co-operating."

A similar co-operation arrangement on skills training is in place with China, where 50 South Africans are undergoing training, with 250 more to follow.

An agreement on training would also soon be signed with France, he said.

The trainees were being selected from among the engineers already employed in state-owned enterprises, he said. Rosatom said training provided in Russia would not be specific to Russian reactor technology and would include a range of fundamental science and applied research areas.

The public awareness programme with Rosatom will involve round-table discussions and other events aimed at promoting nuclear power and nuclear technologies.

Rosatom is also considering the establishment of a Nuclear Energy Information Centre with the Department of Energy to exchange information through working visits and international conferences.

The government has been criticised by political parties and civil society organisations for its decision to procure nuclear power, despite not having clear sight of the costs involved.

Mr Mbambo said the department had done detailed work on the cost structure, the financing model and the economic effect of localisation that would arise from the nuclear build. "All of these have been done and it has shown us that the nuclear build is fundable," said Mr Mbambo.

But the government could not divulge its financial modelling and the estimated cost per KWh of nuclear power prior to the bidding process, he said.