ahlam1399
10-04-2016, 04:11 AM
JOHANNESBURG: South Africa, a country beset by frequent power outages, will have to wait a little longer before pressing ahead with a highly contentious and very costly expansion of its ageing nuclear power fleet.
Exactly how long remains unclear. Last week was supposed to mark a key step forward in plans formulated back in 2010, but at the 11th hour the government balked.
Early last month, the energy ministry an**unced it would finally issue a tender for the construction of between six and eight power stations with a combined capacity of 9,600 megawatts on Friday, September 30. But on Thursday, the ministry pulled the plug, an**uncing the procurement process had been postponed to allow for further consultations.
But it reiterated its commitment to a programme the government says is essential to meeting rising demand for electricity. Five years after the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima plant in Japan, South Africa´s project, coupled with the green light given the Hinkley Point plant in Britain, had been set to consolidate a global resumption of nuclear energy development.
In a continent where two thirds of the population lack electricity, South Africa is the only country with a civilian nuclear industry, with two reactors in service for the past 30 years. Ninety percent of electricity in South Africa is generated by polluting coal-fired power stations.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/World-TheNewsInternational/~4/ynmlK4scg-g
أكثر... (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/World-TheNewsInternational/~3/ynmlK4scg-g/154720-S-Africas-nuclear-programme-kicked-into-touch-again)
Exactly how long remains unclear. Last week was supposed to mark a key step forward in plans formulated back in 2010, but at the 11th hour the government balked.
Early last month, the energy ministry an**unced it would finally issue a tender for the construction of between six and eight power stations with a combined capacity of 9,600 megawatts on Friday, September 30. But on Thursday, the ministry pulled the plug, an**uncing the procurement process had been postponed to allow for further consultations.
But it reiterated its commitment to a programme the government says is essential to meeting rising demand for electricity. Five years after the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima plant in Japan, South Africa´s project, coupled with the green light given the Hinkley Point plant in Britain, had been set to consolidate a global resumption of nuclear energy development.
In a continent where two thirds of the population lack electricity, South Africa is the only country with a civilian nuclear industry, with two reactors in service for the past 30 years. Ninety percent of electricity in South Africa is generated by polluting coal-fired power stations.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/World-TheNewsInternational/~4/ynmlK4scg-g
أكثر... (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/World-TheNewsInternational/~3/ynmlK4scg-g/154720-S-Africas-nuclear-programme-kicked-into-touch-again)