South Africa to re-think nuclear expansion program

‘South Africa’s ruling party on Sunday said the government will have to re-think its costly and highly contentious nuclear expansion program following last week’s relegation of the country’s creditworthiness to junk.
Within days of each other the world’s two major rating agencies Fitch and Standard & Poor’s downgraded South African sovereign debt to junk status after President Jacob Zuma’s dramatic ministerial shake-up that saw respected finance minister, Pravin Gordhan, axed.
In 2010 South Africa formulated plans to expand its nuclear power fleet, plans estimated to cost around one trillion rand ($73 billion).
Two Sunday newspapers cited a confidential document that stated that the country’s power utility Eskom would in June invite bids for the construction of four plants with a combined capacity of 9,600 megawatts.’
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