Electricity minister on mission to ‘demystify’ nuclear energy

Lamenting the lack of an honest debate in South Africa about the country’s energy mix, Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa on Thursday embarked on a drive to explain the ins and outs of nuclear energy to lay people. 

He was addressing a nuclear seminar in Pretoria that he called the first step in this process. The seminar brought together the who’s who of nuclear in South Africa, including government entities, industry associations, scientists, contractors, media, and some international vendors.

Listen/read: Why nuclear power will feature large in SA’s electricity future

Ramokgopa said that in the conversation about the country’s energy mix, the coal and renewable industries are vocal, but nuclear is absent. That is despite the country’s nuclear history dating back to 1948.

“Nuclear scientists are old, grey, intelligent, lack social skills, and are not confrontational.” Therefore, they would rather stay in their corners and release papers, he said.

We are, however, in an era where lobbyists have the ability to undermine a technology without any scientific basis, and by not responding, scientists have placed nuclear on the back foot, he said. 

Ramokgopa vowed: “South Africa will be evidence-based in its choices about the energy mix. That removes emotion.”

Taking another swipe at anti-nuclear lobbyists, he said that in South Africa, people who have never seen the inside of a laboratory have appointed themselves to talk about nuclear. “Those are not experts. They are commentators who will talk about anything if you put a microphone in front of them.”

Ramokgopa said it is therefore important to put on full display what South Africa has achieved regarding nuclear and what the road ahead is.

Idiot’s guide to nuclear

He said he wants an “idiot’s guide to nuclear” so that those who are interested will understand the science of it. 

“Scientists must defend the discipline and show how society can benefit from it and the contribution it can make to economic growth.” In fact, looking at the applications of nuclear in energy and medicine, most South Africans interact with it daily. 

Ramokgopa said he interacted with Chris Opperman (operating partner at C5 Capital for Africa and the Middle East) and others formerly from the South African nuclear industry and now leading nuclear development in the US. “They want to come back.”

Read: Ramokgopa seeks nod for nuclear plant: Times

He said political leaders and policymakers soiled nuclear when allegations of corruption and money wasting surfaced, and lobbyists against nuclear have used that in their campaigns. 

That is why he recently withdrew the Government Gazette announcing what he considered a flawed ministerial determination for the procurement of 2 500MW of nuclear generation. He had to rectify the process; “otherwise, you invite the legal profession to enter the sphere of scientists”.

Procurement announcements

Ramokgopa promised that announcements will be made in the next week or two about the pace and scale of South Africa’s new nuclear procurement and hinted that the revision of the integrated resource plan that was earlier published for comment may more prominently provide for nuclear in the future energy mix. 

Listen/read: Electricity minister outlines SA nuclear power plans

He emphasised that nuclear and renewable energy are not mutually exclusive but must stand together in the energy mix. 

He echoed the earlier message Rafael Grossi, general director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), delivered via video link, that after a period of little interest, the world is once again focusing on nuclear as a clean baseload option. 

Ramokgopa said the initial high capital cost of nuclear is often raised without looking at the levelised cost over the lifetime of the asset, and referred to the low-cost energy Eskom has been generating at Koeberg. 

Read:
Pebble bed nuclear reactor gets a reboot
The proposed 2 400MW nuclear new-build in SA – good idea or not?

Implementing small modular reactors at the point of consumption will reduce the need to construct transmission lines and be more competitive in terms of the amount of capital required.

‘Frivolous’

He considers the arguments against nuclear “frivolous”.

If South Africa’s nuclear programme had not experienced the hiatus it did, the country, being the only one with a nuclear capability on the continent, could have developed its industrial sector and exported skills to other African countries like Egypt and Kenya that are now embarking on nuclear build programmes. 

But it is not too late, he said. “I’m more than confident that nuclear has a role.”

He said the best way to train a new generation of nuclear scientists is to provide certainty regarding the build project. 

He said  science has proven that nuclear energy is a clean and reliable technology. “The only answer we must give is that it mustn’t be too expensive for the consumer.”

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