What Will South Africa's Nuclear Ambitions Cost?

March 29, 2012 from Mail & Guardian Online

As other countries reduce or even eliminate their nuclear power programs, South Africa is expanding its own by building six new nuclear reactors. But at what cost? Not even the experts can agree on the economics of South Africa's nuclear ambitions. What we do know is that if the reactors are not built to deadline, the costs could top a trillion rand (about $130 billion). The M&G's Lionel Faull explains it in simple terms.

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South Africa

South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of Africa. It is divided into nine provinces and has 2,798 kilometres of coastline. To the north lie the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe; to the east are Mo... Explore this topic

South African nuclear program

As a member of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, South Africa uses nuclear science for peaceful means. The South African nuclear program includes both nuclear energy and nuclear medicine. In the past there was also a military component. Explore this topic

Nuclear power plant

A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical in all conventional thermal power stations the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity. As of 1... Explore this topic

Nuclear power

Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provided about 5.7% of the world's energy and 13% of the world's electricity, in 2012. In 2013, the IAEA report that there are 437 operational nuclear power reactors, i... Explore this topic

Nuclear reactor technology

A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for generating electricity and in propulsion of ships. Heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid, which runs through turbine... Explore this topic

Electricity generation

Electricity generation is the process of generating electrical power from other sources of primary energy. The fundamental principles of electricity generation were discovered during the 1820s and early 1830s by the British scientist Michael Faraday. His basic method is still ... Explore this topic

Dipou Peters

Elizabeth Dipuo Peters is the Minister of Energy of the Republic of South Africa, in the Zuma administration, having served as successor to Manne Dipico as the second Premier of the Northern Cape Province, 22 April 2004 to 10 May 2009. A member of the African National Congress... Explore this topic

Wind power

Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electrical power, windmills for mechanical power, wind pumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships. Large wind farms consist of hundreds of individua... Explore this topic

Solar energy

Welcome to Solar Energy, a shared, online source of facts and information built by fans, enthusiasts and experts around the world. Join us and be a part of building and improving it! Explore this topic

Coal-fired power station

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