S.Africa will not sign S.Korea nuclear power deal: official

S.Africa will not sign S.Korea nuclear power

deal: official
by Staff Writers Johannesburg (AFP) Oct 3, 2010 South Africa said Sunday it would not sign an agreement with South Korea to design and build nuclear power plants in the African country, dismissing an earlier report, the foreign ministry said. South Africa's Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe is due in Seoul on Friday "to discuss our bilateral relations in general", spokesman Saul Molobi for the foreign ministry said.
"Motlanthe is not going to sign any deal... We are not going to discuss any possibility for South Africa to buy a nuclear plant," he added.
On Saturday, Yonhap news agency quoted an unidentified South Korean foreign ministry official who said the agreement would be signed during Motlanthe's two-day trip.
"We are going to ask the South Korean government to withdraw its statement," Molobi added.
South Africa has one nuclear power station in southwest Koeberg, and has been planning to construct a second for a few years, to meet a growing demand for electricity.
South Korea is seeking contracts in other countries, including Turkey, after it sealed a landmark 20.4 billion dollar deal with the United Arab Emirates to build a nuclear power plant.
South Korea, with few natural energy sources, operates 20 commercial reactors to provide 40 percent of its electricity needs.
earlier related report S.Korea, S.Africa to sign nuclear power deal: reportSeoul (AFP) Oct 2, 2010 - South Korea will sign an agreement with South Africa in the coming week to design and build nuclear power plants in the African country, it was reported Saturday.
The agreement will be signed when South African Deputy President Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe comes to Seoul Friday for a two-day trip, Yonhap news agency said, quoting an unidentified South Korean foreign ministry official.
"The agreement will lay a legal ground for our advance into South Africa's nuclear energy market," the official was quoted as saying.
Motlanthe will meet with President Lee Myung-Bak and Kim Ssang-Su, chief executive of state-run Korea Electric Power Corp., the report said.
South Korea is seeking contracts in other countries, including Turkey, after it sealed a landmark 20.4 billion dollar deal with the United Arab Emirates to build a nuclear power plant.
South Korea, with few natural energy sources, operates 20 commercial reactors to provide 40 percent of its electricity needs.