The new South African government shelved the plans of the cabinet of former President Jacob Zuma to increase the use of nuclear energy in the country, opting for the use of coal, gas and wind power instead, according to the Integrated Resources Plan (IRP) for the period up to 2030 released by Energy Minister Jeff Radebe on Monday.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th August, 2018) The new South African government shelved the plans of the cabinet of former President Jacob Zuma to increase the use of nuclear energy in the country, opting for the use of coal, gas and wind power instead, according to the Integrated Resources Plan (IRP) for the period up to 2030 released by Energy Minister Jeff Radebe on Monday.
The pro-nuclear lobby was extremely strong during the presidency of Zuma, who resigned in February amid motion of no confidence. Zuma's cabinet planned to construct eight new reactors at the country's nuclear station by 2030, increasing its output by 9.6 gigawatts.
"As it is evident from the report for the year 2030, there is no plan to increase [the use of nuclear energy] ... There will be a detailed technical analysis to see how much will be needed," Radebe said as quoted by the South African business Day newspaper.
According to the news outlet, the share of nuclear power generation in the country's electricity will remain at the current level of 2.5 percent.
South Africa currently has one nuclear power plant the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station with two nuclear reactors, operated by the South African national electric power supplier Eskom.
