Necsa falls back into R7.3m loss, with outlook clouded by reactor shutdown

The South African Nuclear Energy Corporation, or Necsa, has reported a R7.3-million loss for its 2026 financial year, representing a sharp fall from the R125-million profit reported in the previous financial year and its first loss since 2022.

The group loss was attributed primarily to big losses recorded by Necsa’s commercial subsidiaries NTP and Pelchem, which produce medical isotopes and fluorochemicals respectively.

It emerged that NTP lost R75.7-million last year, and chairperson David Nicholls told the Portfolio Committee on Electricity and Energy that the SAFARI-1 reactor is currently shut.

The development had implications for the unit’s profitability in the current financial year, and Nicholls therefore told lawmakers that it was not possible to provide updated financial projections.

The performance of NTP in 2026 had been negatively affected by the introduction of tariffs by the US, which had historically been a key market for NTP’s isotopes.

“On the NTP side, the partial loss of our biggest single customer in one market, which is the USA, was very significant on our income,” he said in response to a question posed by committee members on the decline in performance.

The current focus was on a strategy to diversify sales to customers in other regions, including Asia, with India having been identified as a key replacement market.

However, legal permissions were required and had not yet been secured, owing to the fact that India was not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

In addition, there was an urgent need for production to resume at the SAFARI-1 reactor if NTP was to begin its financial recovery.

Nicholls indicated that Necsa had submitted documentation to the National Nuclear Regulator in relation to the reactor’s spent-fuel storage system, but that it had not yet received approval for a resumption of production.

“And to put it in simple context, every week SAFARI-1 is down is costing us R25-million.”

He said that Pelchem would need to undergo further restructuring if there was any prospect of it returning to profitability.

Despite these problems, CEO Loyiso Tyabashe insisted that the turnaround of the entity had been completed and that the group’s strategy was now shifting from stabilisation to growth.

Tyabashe said that, given the negative geopolitical impacts experienced in its 2026 financial year, the immediate focus was on diversifying the products it made, the customers it served and the regions into which it sold.

“We are well on track to establish those commercial contracts in other emerging regions.”

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter