The Department of Energy (DoE) confirmed on Wednesday that the second nuclear vendor parade workshop, which took place at a venue in the Drakensberg, had been concluded with delegations from China, France, South Korea and the US.

The first such workshop, which was also held in the Drakensberg in late October, was attended by officials from the Russian Federation and Rosatom.

The workshops, the DoE said, involved presentations by the delegations of the four countries on their nuclear offerings and how, if selected, they would deploy the 9 600 MW of nuclear power envisaged in the current version of the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP).

Besides showcasing their technologies, the vendors outlined their offerings for the full nuclear value chain, including areas such as uranium mining, conversion and enrichment, fuel fabrication, localisation and industrialisation, power generation, safety and licensing, job creation, research and development, skills transfer and development.

The workshop was attended by a “large” South African contingent comprising senior technical officials from government, State-owned companies and academia.

“The conclusion of this vendor parade marks a significant milestone in the government pre-procurement phase for the roll-out of the nuclear new build programme,” the DoE said in a statement, indicating that they would assist with the design and launch of a procurement process.

The workshops had been held amid growing anxiety over the outlook for electricity supply security, with power utility Eskom warning that load shedding could become a more regular occurrence, particularly during the high-maintenance summer months.

However, they also took place amid criticism about the DoE’s current prioritisation of nuclear ahead of other technologies, which might be better suited to closing the immediate supply-side gaps.

In an opinion piece published by Business Day, University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business’ Professor Anton Eberhard described the Cabinet energy security committee’s focus on nuclear as a “dangerous and costly diversion”.

He also described the reliance on the current version of the current IRP as “irrational and potentially disastrous for our economy”, particularly in light of the decline in the outlook for demand following its publication in 2011.

A draft IRP Update, published in 2013, outlined a far weaker demand outlook than the one published in the official IRP and also suggested that nuclear could either be delayed, or even abandoned.

Eskom reported a 1.4% decline in sales to 103 494 GWh in the six months to September 30, and forecast that sales would be more than 1% lower for the year as a whole.

“Nuclear energy is more expensive than alternatives. Contracted wind energy is now less than 70c/kWh and will soon be less than 60c/kWh. Nuclear power cannot compete,” Eberhard wrote.

But the DoE said: “Government remains committed to ensure energy security for the country, through the roll-out of the nuclear new build programme as an integral part of the energy mix as articulated in the IRP 2010-30 and to keep the lights on in a sustainable manner.”