• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
The climate news that makes a difference.
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Cities & Communities
  • Electric Mobility
  • Heat & Power
  • Community Climate Finance
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Cities & Communities
  • Electric Mobility
  • Heat & Power
  • Community Climate Finance
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Cities & Communities
  • Electric Mobility
  • Heat & Power
  • Community Climate Finance
  FEATURED
‘Huge Loss’ for Local Green Economy as Vancouver Shutters Its Economic Commission September 28, 2023
Leading Climate Models Underestimate Clean Energy Progress, Overstate Cost, Study Finds September 28, 2023
Green Space Groups Gear for Bigger Fights After Ontario Reverses Greenbelt Land Grab September 28, 2023
Put Lower-Income Households First in Line for Low-Carbon Technologies: Samson September 28, 2023
Fossil Fuels Fall 25% by 2030, Renewables ‘Keep the Path Open’ in IEA Net-Zero Update September 26, 2023
Next
Prev

Two Thumbs Down, One Reprieve for Nuclear Generation

November 30, 2016
Reading time: 2 minutes

Shubert Ciencia/Flickr

Shubert Ciencia/Flickr

 
Shubert Ciencia/Flickr
Shubert Ciencia/Flickr

Nations in Africa and Southeast Asia took turns away from nuclear power generation in recent decisions, while one in Europe opted to stay the nuclear course for the foreseeable future, according to media reports.

South African President Jacob Zuma appeared to have lost a struggle with his nation’s treasury department when his cash-strapped government announced it would not proceed with construction of a nuclear facility Zuma had pressed to complete by 2023. Instead, the Financial Times reports, “South Africa will postpone building nuclear power stations until the 2030s, providing a boost to a treasury that is struggling to avoid the country’s credit rating being downgraded to junk status.” Additional nuclear power will not now come online in South Africa until 2037, the government says.

  • Be among the first to read The Energy Mix Weekender
  • A brand new weekly digest containing exclusive and essential climate stories from around the world.
  • The Weekender:The climate news you need.
Subscribe

“Eskom, the powerful state monopoly that supplies nearly all of South Africa’s electricity, has said that it favours nuclear energy because it is more reliable than renewable sources,” the Times states. But treasury officials had balked at the utility’s demand that the government guarantee the estimated US$100 billion cost of building the Russian-designed facility.

The decision leaves Eskom, which currently operates Africa’s only two nuclear reactors at its Koeberg generating station, to decide how instead to replace the output from a fleet of ageing coal power stations that supply 80% of the nation’s electricity, and are scheduled to begin closing by the 2030s.

Meanwhile, RenewEconomy reports, “Vietnam has become the latest country to dump its nuclear power plans—and rule nuclear out of its energy mix for the foreseeable future—after the country’s National Assembly voted to abandon plans to build two new plants in partnership with Russia and Japan.”

A Vietnamese government statement explained that the price of the proposed plants had doubled to nearly US$18 billion. At the same time, annual growth in Vietnam’s power demand has fallen from a projected 17 to 20% percent to between 7% and 8%. The abandoned plants would have added 4,000 MW to the country’s generating capacity.

But in Switzerland, voters opted in a referendum to go the opposite way and keep the landlocked nation’s nuclear fleet operating. According to the Washington Post, a proposal “promoted by the Green party would have meant closing three of Switzerland’s five nuclear plants next year. Polls ahead of the referendum had shown a tight race, but voters shot down the initiative by 54.2% to 45.8%.”

Under Switzerland’s direct democracy system, the Post notes, “proposals need support from both a majority of the country’s cantons and of the national vote to pass. Only six of Switzerland’s 26 [cantons] backed the nuclear shutdown plan.”

The initiative “would have limited the lifespan of nuclear plants to 45 years,” and forced Switzerland’s Beznau 1 and 2 and Muehleberg reactors to close. Switzerland’s newest plant, at Leibstadt, opened in 1984 and would have had to close by 2029. Instead, the defeat of the Greens’ proposal leaves the lifespans of all five undefined.



in Africa, Climate & Society, Energy Politics, Fossil Fuels, International, Jurisdictions, Nuclear, UK & Europe

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

Iota 9/Wikimedia Commons
Cities & Communities

‘Huge Loss’ for Local Green Economy as Vancouver Shutters Its Economic Commission

September 28, 2023
1
Solarimo/pixabay
Ending Emissions

Leading Climate Models Underestimate Clean Energy Progress, Overstate Cost, Study Finds

September 28, 2023
2
Duffins Agriculture Preserve/North Country House Media via Greenbelt Foundation
Ontario

Green Space Groups Gear for Bigger Fights After Ontario Reverses Greenbelt Land Grab

September 28, 2023
151

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

Cullen328/wikimedia commons

Manufactured Housing Could Dent the Affordable Housing Crunch with Energy-Efficient Designs

September 20, 2023
622
Mark Dixon/wikimedia commons

Hundreds of Thousands March in Global Climate Strike

September 19, 2023
211
Jon Sullivan/flickr

Thorold Gas Peaker Plant Won’t Be Built After Unanimous City Council Vote

September 21, 2023
749
Jason Blackeye/Unsplash

Fossil Fuels Fall 25% by 2030, Renewables ‘Keep the Path Open’ in IEA Net-Zero Update

September 28, 2023
403
/Piqusels

‘Beginning of the End’ for Oil and Gas as IEA Predicts Pre-2030 Peak

September 19, 2023
845
Duffins Agriculture Preserve/North Country House Media via Greenbelt Foundation

Green Space Groups Gear for Bigger Fights After Ontario Reverses Greenbelt Land Grab

September 28, 2023
151

Recent Posts

Iota 9/Wikimedia Commons

‘Huge Loss’ for Local Green Economy as Vancouver Shutters Its Economic Commission

September 28, 2023
1
Solarimo/pixabay

Leading Climate Models Underestimate Clean Energy Progress, Overstate Cost, Study Finds

September 28, 2023
2
DiscoverEganville/wikimedia commons

EV Rentals to Improve Transportation Access for Ontario Townships

September 28, 2023
1
shopblocks/flickr

E-Bikes, Scooters Overwhelm Toronto Bike Lanes

September 28, 2023
2
kelly8843496 / Pixabay

Put Lower-Income Households First in Line for Low-Carbon Technologies: Samson

September 28, 2023
2
Power lines, Mississauga, Canada

Two First Nations Groups Vie to Build Northern Ontario Power Line

September 28, 2023
111
Next Post

EU climate spending criticised by auditors

The Energy Mix - The climate news you need

Copyright 2023 © Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Proudly partnering with…

scf_withtagline
The Energy Mix - Energy Central
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Cities & Communities
  • Electric Mobility
  • Heat & Power
  • Community Climate Finance

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}