LETTER: Nuclear energy should be in SA’s power mix
The green lobby’s dismissal of the technology is based on skewed facts
Greenpeace’s Melita Steele was typically long on emotion and short on logic when writing on nuclear energy (“Enough of blundering towards our own Chernobyl (https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/2019-08-02-enough-of-the-blundering-towards-chernobyl/)”, August 2). Energy supply is a long-term business and all arguments for or against need to be rigorously examined.
Usually no one system will supply all requirements all of the time, so the energy balance becomes critical. It is a given that all countries need to urgently minimise fossil-fuel power generation. The arguments against nuclear are cost, safety and waste management. The in-use design life of a typical nuclear station is 50 years. Naturally most of the cost is upfront with the cost benefit derived over time, but viewed over its lifetime nuclear is one of the cheapest Kwh rates available...
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