Sunday 29 / March / 2026
Cape Town: Arguably, no form of technology has sparked both fear and enthusiasm quite the way nuclear energy has.
In the 1950s, the peaceful use of nuclear fission boomed, and it remains to this day the ultimate deterrent in military matters.
Significant nuclear accidents at Three Mile Island (Pennsylvania, 1979), Chernobyl (Soviet Union, 1986), and Fukushima (Japan, 2011) dampened support for atomic energy.
More recently it has been touted as a low carbon and therefore environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels.
Africa currently has only one nuclear power station in Koeberg, near Cape Town, South Africa. But that may soon change.
African nuclear ambitions — from 'certain' to 'unrealistic'
In 2025, South African journalist Tristen Taylor conducted an in-depth study of the nuclear ambitions of African countries.
His report was published by the Cape Town office of Germany's Green party-aligned Heinrich Böll Foundation.
"Africa is a blue sky country for all the vendors and in particular South Korea, China and Russia," Taylor told DW.
"This is where they will have a possible growth market. It's just whether African countries can have their act together to tender, do the contracts, have the financial mechanisms in place," he said, before adding that the International Atomic Energy Agency helps countries with the necessary preparations.
