JOHANNESBURG - South Africa, which has backed IranÂ’s right to enrich uranium, says it is contemplating processing its own uranium to boost power generation and envisages building up to six new nuclear reactors.But Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said in a speech at the weekend that any enrichment of uranium by South Africa would be pursued within international obligations.
South Africa has said it hopes to grow its economy by around 6 percent in the future and would need new energy capacity to fuel the expansion of the continentÂ’s biggest economy.
South Africa abandoned its nuclear arms programme before the end of apartheid in 1994. But it opposes forcing nations to abandon uranium enrichment, saying this could hurt its potential commercial activities to supply the nuclear power industry. ‘The expansion of peaceful uses of nuclear energy worldwide is looking more and more irreversible,’ Sonjica said. ‘Clearly there is potential in this country and in this continent for us to look at ways of increasing the role nuclear technology plays in our economies.’
Sonjica said nuclear technology could increase at least 5,000 megawatts of nuclear energy to the countryÂ’s power output by 2030. Sonjica said the proposed plan would require building of four to six new nuclear reactors, and that the country had enough uranium reserves to fuel such a nuclear energy programme.
South Africa produces nuclear electricity from its Koeberg power plant in the Western Cape province, which accounts for 6 percent of its electricity generation. Koeberg, AfricaÂ’s only nuclear-fired facility, imports all its fuel requirements, a spokesman said. Its two nuclear reactors each generate about 900 megawatts of electricity.