The DA would therefore write to Mboweni and Minerals and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe to urge them to reconsider and to "inform them that the DA will vehemently oppose putting nuclear back on the table", DA shadow minister of energy and mineral resources Kevin Mileham said in a statement.

The first reality was that Eskom was completely dysfunctional and overburdened by hundreds of billions in debt. In addition, the entity had demonstrated that it lacked the capacity to deal with large scale projects, he said.

The second reality was that the fiscus could not afford a new nuclear procurement programme in the short to medium-term.

Thirdly, South Africa had lost much of its nuclear technical skills to other countries, particularly after the termination of the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor programme. Even the heart of South Africa's nuclear industry, the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (Necsa), was no longer in a position to drive such a programme, being technically insolvent and operationally challenged, Mileham said.

The final consideration was that any nuclear build would take time to procure and operationalise. South Africa needed electricity now, not in 15 years time. The economy was in the doldrums and needed urgent resuscitation. Nuclear was a long-term prospect that would not address the immediate problem.

While the DA supported a diverse energy mix, any proposal to revive the nuclear new build, should, at this time, be opposed.

A far better solution for the short-term was to deregulate small scale embedded generation, allow municipalities to purchase power directly from independent power producers, and immediately open bid window five for renewable energy producers. All this could be done quickly and easily by the minister of energy.

Mboweni and Mantashe, together with the African National Congress government, should put South Africa and the economy first and reject any proposals to invest in nuclear in the short-term, Mileham said.

African News Agency