[There are stunning photos at the source link below. Jan]

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has doubled down on the government’s plan to build 5,200 MW worth of nuclear power in the coming years.

This will include the construction of a nuclear power station at Thyspunt, which is located between Oyster Bay and Cape St Francis.

This location has been recommended in a draft environmental scoping report as the preferred site for an Eskom-operated nuclear power station.

The plan to use Thyspunt has been met with opposition from residents in St Francis and the SA Heritage Resources Agency, which made the area a Grade I Cultural Landscape in January 2025.

Ramokgopa believes that the implementation of the government’s nuclear power programme should not be conducted as a matter of politics.

Rather, it should be left for Eskom and engineering exports to implement according to technical demands and requirements.

Ramokgopa told the SABC that previous controversies surrounding the construction of new nuclear power plants in South Africa stem from the conflation of politics and engineering.

South Africa currently has one operational nuclear power plant connected to Eskom’s grid in Koeberg in the Western Cape.

“We conflated politics with engineering. It is a very simple engineering problem to build 5,200 MW of nuclear power without the intervention of politics,” Ramokgopa said.

Ramokgopa explained further that politics has shifted in recent years to include nuclear as a ‘green’ source of energy and as a vital part of energy security.

With recent shocks to the global supply of various fuel sources, energy security has once again become the key consideration regarding the development of power plants and electricity sources.

“They have suddenly discovered nuclear is green when it always has been. Major countries are now expanding nuclear capacity and large financiers are willing to fund these projects,” Ramokgopa said.

“We are the only country in Africa with active reactors, but we have abandoned our strategic advantage when we had the technology to expand capacity.”

The government is committed to building new nuclear power stations in South Africa as part of its latest Integrated Resource Plan.

“We are going to build those plants. We are talking about a nuclear industrialisation plan. It is not only about the reactors, but it is also about playing in the nuclear fuel cycle,” Ramokgopa said.

“We are going to do it. We are going to announce the construction and then separate the engineers from the politics. We will procure nuclear as a backbone for electricity generation in South Africa.”

Thyspunt going nuclear

An Environmental Scoping Report has recommended that further studies on which site to select for a new nuclear power plant should only be undertaken at Thyspunt in the Eastern Cape.

This report said that further investigation at other sites, such as Bantamsklip in the Overberg, should be restricted in the future to focus on Thyspunt.

The recommendation is as much about the lack of viable alternatives to Thyspunt as it is about the advantages of the stretch of coastline.

Bantamsklip is in a very remote location without access to powerlines to connect a power plant to the national grid, resulting in significant disruption to the rural landscape.

However, at Thyspunt, the development of nearby wind farms has created a network of new power lines that have already degraded that rural setting.

“From a spatial, technical, and infrastructure perspective, Thyspunt offers clear advantages,” the report read. Crucially, the land is already owned by Eskom.

“Specialist screening undertaken to date has not identified any unmitigable environmental constraints at Thyspunt. It is therefore recommended as the preferred site to be taken forward in the assessment process”.

Located near Cape St Francis, which is filled with houses of the wealthy, the construction of a nuclear power plant is set to change the reclusive setting of nearby towns and properties.

St Francis’ main drawcard is its clean beaches, which are popular with surfers and holidaygoers from the interior of South Africa.

The area was well-known for centuries after Bartholomeu Dias rounded the Cape and paused at the Cape. Following Portuguese explorers called the area Bahia de São Francisco.

St Francis was transformed by the construction of its canals by Leighton Hulett, upon which many of the town’s houses are located.

All homes in the original village and canal area were required to have white walls and black roofs, which gave the town a unique look that it maintains to this day.

Today, St Francis Bay is a popular holiday and retirement town, referred to as the “Jewel of the Eastern Cape” by residents.

It is also a vital centre for South Africa’s Chokka (squid). It has a privately owned working harbour that hosts a commercial chokka fleet alongside luxury yachts.

Source: https://dailyinvestor.com/energy/134305/south-african-millionaire-town-set-to-get-a-nuclear-power-station-next-door/?utm_source=newsletter