South Africa's nuclear & energy program

South Africa — key facts

• CountrySouth Africa
• RegionSouthern Africa
• Program statusOperating — Operating commercial reactor(s) generating electricity
• IAEA milestone phasePhase 3 — Ready to operate the first nuclear power plant
• Commercial reactors operating2
• Commercial reactors under construction0
• Planned capacity5.2 GW
• First grid target2039
• Research reactorSAFARI-1 (20 MW tank-in-pool)
• RegulatorNational Nuclear Regulator (NNR)
• Implementing agencyEskom (Koeberg) / Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources / NNEECC
• AgreementsUS-South Africa 123 Agreement; UK-South Africa civil nuclear MoU (2025)
• Electricity access92.0%
• Installed capacity47000.0 MW
• ConfidenceVerified
• Last verified2026-08-16

Summary

Only African country with an operating commercial nuclear power plant (Koeberg Units 1 & 2, 1,860 MW net total). The 2039 grid target refers to IRP 2025's plan for 5,200 MW of *new* nuclear capacity by 2039 (cabinet-approved October 2025, potential expansion to 10,000 MW) — separate from existing Koeberg operations. Koeberg licence positions: Unit 1 extended to 21 July 2044 (granted July 2024), Unit 2 extended to 9 November 2045 (granted November 2025). Strong SME base and PBMR legacy. Procurement route for new build not yet finalised.

Key events

• 2024-07Koeberg Unit 1 operating licence extended to 21 July 2044 source
• 2025-11Koeberg Unit 2 operating licence extended to 9 November 2045 source
• 2025-10South Africa's cabinet approves IRP 2025 with 5,200 MW new nuclear by 2039 source
• 2025UK-South Africa civil nuclear cooperation MoU signed source
• 2026-07Four INES Level 0 airborne contamination events at Koeberg Unit 2 during steam-generator inspections; no off-site release; NNR investigation ongoing source

Claims and confidence labels

• program_statusOperatingVerifiedobserved 2025-11 · verified 2026-08-16 source
• iaea_milestone_phase3Verifiedobserved 2025-11 · verified 2026-08-16 source
• commercial_reactors_operating2Verifiedobserved 2025-11 · verified 2026-08-16 source
• commercial_reactors_under_construction0Verifiedobserved 2025-11 · verified 2026-08-16 source
• capacity_gw_planned5.2Verifiedobserved 2025-10 · verified 2026-08-16 source
• first_grid_target_year2039Verifiedobserved 2025-10 · verified 2026-09-23 source
• research_reactorSAFARI-1 (20 MW tank-in-pool)Verifiedobserved 2025 · verified 2026-08-16 source
• agreementsUS-South Africa 123 AgreementVerifiedobserved 1995-08 · verified 2026-08-16 source

Sources

• https://www.world-nuclear-news.org
• https://www.eskom.co.za
• https://www.nnr.co.za
• https://www.iaea.org

Related countries

Zambia, Zimbabwe, Eswatini

Confidence labels: Verified (primary source), Inference (reasonable reading of verified evidence), Speculation (hypothesis), Unverified (reported, not confirmed). See the methodology.