[Bloomberg, Engineering News; 13 November] South African state utility Eskom still plans to announce its preferred bidder to build a nuclear power plant by the end of the year, despite doubts on the future of the project expressed by a government official. Eskom spokesman Fani Zulu told the press that the outcome of the process to select the builder of a 120 billion-rand ($11.7 billion) nuclear power would be announced by the end of the year. Two consortia, one led by Areva of France and the other by Toshiba-owned Westinghouse, are vying for the contract. Meanwhile, Tseliso Maqubela, acting deputy director general at the country's Department of Minerals and Energy, told journalists that plans for the new plant would have to be rethought in the light of the current economic situation. Speaking at a conference on energy in southern Africa, he said "To say that we can proceed with the nuclear build the way we had envisioned would be misleading - we need to prioritise." Maqubela reaffirmed that nuclear would nevertheless remain an important part of South Africa's future energy mix.
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