Copy in clipboard...
South Africa open to nuclear project bids from Russia, Iran: Minister
SA, which operates Africa’s only nuclear power plant, Koeberg, plans to add 2,500 megawatts of new capacity to tackle electricity outages that have plagued the economy and to reduce emissions, according to Reuters.
“We can’t have a contract that says Iran or Russia must not bid, we can’t have that condition,” Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe said.
“If they are the best in terms of the offer on the table, we’ll take any (country),” he told Reuters.
The country is under scrutiny from Washington after US President Donald Trump issued a far-reaching executive order this month halting aid. Among other criticisms, the order claimed, without providing evidence, that SA was “reinvigorating its relations with Iran to develop commercial, military, and nuclear arrangements.”
An SA tender for nuclear projects, initially planned for last year, has been delayed for further consultation following legal challenges led by the then opposition Democratic Alliance party, now part of the coalition government.