THE procurement of new nuclear energy plants looks set to become Eskom’s responsibility after the government again stalled the publication of the request for proposals by the Department of Energy, which had been expected on Friday.Until now, the department has been the procuring agent, while Eskom, which is the designated owner-operator of nuclear energy plants, has watched from the sidelines.Speaking after a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe said the request for proposals would not be issued to allow more time for consultations on whether the department would be the lead implementing agent or whether Eskom would be assigned this role.Consultations on this issue would have to be finalised before the request for proposals could be issued so the implementing authority could be defined clearly, he said.Eskom’s balance sheet was previously considered by department officials to be too weak to raise the finance required to build nuclear energy plants. How...
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