Min. of Energy Ramokgopa to outline SA’s new nuclear energy strategy

The Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa is expected to outline the government’s new strategy regarding nuclear energy on Friday.

The strategy is part of the country’s future energy mix which the government has been working on under the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan.

According to the plan, 2 500MW of generation capacity will be sourced from nuclear energy.

However various civil society organisations and the Democratic Alliance (DA) are strongly opposed to the plan to accelerate the introduction of nuclear energy citing high costs and safety concerns.

Southern African Faith Communities Environment Institute, Executive Director Francesca de Gasparis says, “We’ve been watching very carefully energy decision-making for a number of years. In 2017 we joined Earthlife to take the government to court over how it procuring nuclear energy and that was found by the high court to be illegal and unconstitutional and we are now right now once again mounting a legal challenge to say the way that you are talking about bringing in New nuclear energy hasn’t had sufficient public participation and consultation and it’s not clear that it fits what was on the IRP 2019.”

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