“We are finishing a range of feasibility studies into aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle,” Van Zyl de Villiers, general manager of research and development at Necsa, said. “The next step for us will be to establish experimental infrastructure.”
While in 2008, Eskom Holdings Ltd. has canceled a plan to construct second nuclear plant, citing costs, the government said it remained committed to nuclear power.
South Africa wants to develop local companies’ participation in supplies to the industry and tasked Necsa to investigate how best to convert and enrich uranium and to produce nuclear power plant fuel. The country dismantled uranium conversion and enrichment facilities, used to make nuclear bombs, in 1993.
“The studies have so far shown that there are components of the fuel cycle that can be economically justifiable,” De Villiers said. The “attractiveness will depend on size of the future nuclear industry in South Africa and what international alliances we can enter into.”
More Control
In 2008, South Africa’s Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said that the country aimed to generate 20,000 megawatts of nuclear power by 2025. The South Africa government also announced plans to tighten control over uranium reserves to ensure adequate supplies for the country’s nuclear program.
Presently, Necsa is in discussions with all the big international nuclear players, Sonjica said.
