South Africa to procure nuclear energy at affordable scale: Zuma

South Africa's Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and President Jacob Zuma stand before the State of the Nation address at the opening session of Parliament in Cape Town, February 11, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa will procure nuclear energy at an affordable pace and scale, President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday. "We will procure nuclear energy on a scale and pace that the country can afford," Zuma said in his annual state of the nation address to parliament. South Africa hopes to install 9,600 megawatts of nuclear power in the next 15 years to address chronic electricity shortages but the cost of the project estimated at about $100 billion has raised budgetary concerns. (Reporting Wendell Roelf; Writing by Tiisetso Motsoeneng; Editing by James Macharia)