Cape Town - Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson told Parliament on Tuesday that although the perception was that she was “married to the Russians”, no nuclear procurement deal had been signed with Russia or any other country.
The minister, who briefed the energy portfolio committee on the inter-governmental nuclear co-operation agreements on Tuesday, said although these had been signed with five countries, the procurement process had not begun.
“There is no deal signed with anybody,” she said.
Agreements with Canada and Japan had still to be concluded.
The cost of South Africa’s proposed new 9 600MW nuclear fleet – between eight and 10 power stations, depending on the technology selected – has been estimated at up to R1 trillion. However, Joemat-Pettersson dismissed this figure.
“I’ve never been given figures of R1 trillion so I can’t respond to that. As the funding model develops I’ll be able to give you a better indication.”
She said she was committed to a “thorough cost-benefit analysis of nuclear power” and that her department was working with the National Treasury on a funding model for the nuclear fleet. Treasury was driving the process and once it had been completed it would be brought to the portfolio committee.
However, part of this would remain secret. “There is information of a commercial nature which I request members to table as classified documents.”
Joemat-Pettersson took a swipe at the cost of the country’s fledgling wind and solar industry, built by the private sector and selected by government through a competitive bidding process to sell power to the grid.
“It’s not a cheap programme either. At the current rate of procurement it’s over R200 billion of wind and solar. So I fail to understand if this is such a large budget for renewables, why is that programme not being investigated?”
DA MP Gordon Mackay said the “elephant in the room” was the review by the International Atomic Energy Agency, done at the request of the government in February 2013, on South African nuclear infrastructure. This has not been made public. Mackay said the department had promised this would be released at the end of August and asked the minister why it had not been.
Joemat-Pettersson replied that she had been told Tuesday’s meeting was to deal with inter-governmental agreements, so that was the information she and her department had brought to the committee.
CAPE TIMES