The deputy director general of nuclear energy‚ Zizamele Mbambo made it clear on Tuesday that South Africa was forging ahead with its nuclear build programme‚ but kept mum on how the country’s new nuclear reactors would be financed.

At a press briefing‚ Mbambo said government had undertaken detailed studies on various aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle value chain‚ including amongst other‚ costs‚ financing‚ funding model‚ skills development and economic impact of localisation.

“These studies have confirmed that this programme is fundable and will contribute positively to the economy of the country‚” he said.

However‚ he said‚ “It is important to note that government is still to negotiate the price tag in the procurement process which is why exact figures for the study cannot be made available to the public at this stage.”

Mbambo said that nuclear would represent 23% (9‚600MW) of South Africa’s energy needs by 2030‚ and that in accordance with this plan the first nuclear unit would be commissioned by 2023. The procurement process would be completed by end of the 2015 financial year‚ while strategic partners would also be selected by the end of the 2015 financial year.

He said that as part of a preparatory stage‚ the Department of Energy had undertaken study tours to various nuclear vendor countries in order to familiarise itself with various technologies offered by these countries and lessons learned during their history of deployment of nuclear energy as part of their energy mix.

To date government had signed inter-governmental agreements with China‚ France‚ Russia‚ USA and South Korea. Negotiations were underway to conclude agreements with Canada and Japan.

“Each one of these inter-governmental agreements lays foundation for co-operation‚ trade and exchange of nuclear technology as well as procurement‚” Mbambo said.

South African professionals from government departments‚ state-owned entities‚ universities (professors for nuclear engineering programmes) had also participated in the vendor parade workshops. Fifty to eighty South African nuclear professionals (experts) had participated in these workshops and thoroughly interrogated vendors’ technological offerings.

As part of the ramping out for readiness of the programme for the nuclear new build programme‚ national skills development activities had also started. Fifty trainees from the government‚ entities and industry had been sent to China for Phase 1 nuclear training in April‚ and an additional 250 trainees would be sent to China this year.

Russia had offered 10 new scholarships for Master’s Degree in Nuclear Technology‚ while South Korea had an existing programme to train South African students for Master’s Degree in Nuclear Engineering — so far three students had graduated in 2013 and 2015 respectively.

France had put in place 14 bursaries for young people coming from previously disadvantaged groups. In addition‚ South African engineers already engaged in nuclear activities would follow job training in France‚ equivalent to a total of 400 months.