Nuclear power can be sexy, says Ramokgopa

The nuclear power industry is characterised by old, grey-haired men who are smart but not socially skilled, says Kgosientsho Ramokgopa.

According to him, they sit in a corner and write academic articles, while activists without any scientific knowledge cast doubt on their technology. However, there is no reason why the industry cannot be young, funky and sexy, South Africa's minister of electricity and energy said last week at a nuclear power seminar in Pretoria.

"Bring young people, girls, on board." There are young women in the solar and broader energy industry; why not in nuclear power, he asked.

Ramokgopa is on a mission to make nuclear power acceptable and to ensure that the process of acquiring new nuclear power generation capacity is transparent and free of corruption. South Africa's current power plan provides for the purchase of another 2 500 megawatts (MW) of nuclear power stations, which is more than the 1 800 MW that Koeberg can generate.

However, there is a condition that South Africa must create new nuclear power generation "at the pace and scale that the country can afford".

He said: "This plan is already five years old and outdated. The department of mineral resources published an updated version for comment last year, which in its basic plan does not provide for new nuclear power".

However, Ramokgopa announced that this plan is being revised because the assumptions on which it is based have since changed. There is thus an opportunity to make nuclear power part of the plan again.



Future energy mix

He emphasised that South Africa has had its own nuclear power industry since 1948 and is the only country in Africa where electricity is generated with nuclear power. Yet the country's nuclear power industry is silent in the debate about the country's future energy mix.

The coal industry and proponents of renewable energy dominate discussions, and the nuclear power industry is cast in doubt by activists without any scientific basis.

Ramokgopa said: "In South Africa, people who have never seen the inside of a laboratory have taken it upon themselves to talk about nuclear power. They are not experts. They are commentators who will talk about anything if you put a microphone in front of them. Because scientists do not stand up and point out the benefits it holds, nuclear power is constantly on the defensive".

And the minister is determined to change this.

"In South Africa, choices about the energy mix will be based on evidence, without emotion," he said. The seminar is the first step to fully showcase what the South African nuclear power industry has already achieved and what the way forward is.



Dispelling myths

Ramokgopa asked officials in his department to compile a guide for laypeople on how nuclear power works so that the mystery can be removed and myths dispelled.

He said nuclear power is already part of most South Africans' lives through the use of electricity generated with it and nuclear medicine.

Nuclear power is proven technology for stable power supply and low carbon emissions, and although the initial high capital costs are emphasised, it is very competitive over the lifetime of the plant. In South Africa, the proof of this is the low cost at which Eskom currently generates nuclear power at Koeberg.

According to Ramokgopa, leaders at the political and policy level have clouded the nuclear power debate due to allegations of corruption and inefficient use of money. This plays into the hands of activists against nuclear power. He recently withdrew the notice of the ministerial directive for the purchase of the 2 500 MW that was published in the Government Gazette because there was not sufficient public participation.

"We are correcting it, otherwise you invite legal experts to enter the field of scientists," he said. "The process must be credible."

He said: "Nuclear power is available on demand and, thanks to its stability, can replace coal as a baseload that can supplement the variability of renewable power. It is not either nuclear power or green power; both are important for the right technology mix."

The minister echoed the message of Raphael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who addressed the seminar via video, that there is a renewed appreciation for and interest in nuclear power worldwide.

More and more countries in Africa are currently in different phases of acquiring nuclear power stations, and if South Africa had not halted its nuclear power programme, "we could have exported skills there and helped our industrial sector".

According to Ramokgopa, it is not too late, however. "I am confident that nuclear power has a role to play."The best way to train a new generation of nuclear scientists is to provide certainty about the intended construction project," he said.



-CITY PRESS