Eskom seeking local uranium suppliers

The parastatal published a notice earlier this month‚ saying it was developing a commercial sourcing strategy for "uranium‚ uranium conversion services and uranium enrichment services" needed for the nuclear power station from 2018 onwards.

The power utility is extending the life of Koeberg on the Cape West Coast‚ which started feeding electricity into the national grid in 1984‚ until around 2044. It has two nuclear reactors that produce 1800MW of power.

"Eskom's information concerning SA's junior uranium producers is limited‚" said the notice.

Uranium that is mined is sent abroad to be enriched and then manufactured into fuel pellets and placed into fuel assemblies. The fuel assemblies are then shipped back to Koeberg. The power station uses between 52 and 60 of these fuel assemblies every 15 to 18 months.

Potential uranium suppliers have been asked to provide their BBBEEE status‚ whether they have the necessary mining rights and water licences to mine uranium‚ whether their site is registered by the South African Nuclear Regulator and what their future uranium production plans are until 2025.