THE Cabinet has approved the start of the nuclear procurement programme, clearing the way for the Department of Energy to call for proposals to provide SA with 9.6GW of nuclear power without first doing a cost-benefit analysis.

The programme is controversial as several independent studies have found that the cost of new nuclear energy will be greater than energy produced by other technologies. There is also deep suspicion that the procurement will be corrupt, with Russia claiming some time ago that it had already struck a deal with SA.