South African construction firm Aveng (AEG) is disappointed by power utility Eskom's decision to abandon its nuclear project, its chief said on Friday.

"Although we are disappointed by this announcement, the Aveng Group's construction order book remains strong. Given the current economic environment we understand Eskom's decision and we look forward to working with Eskom on other projects, to deliver the required power infrastructure for our country," said Roger Jardine, Aveng CEO in an e-mailed statement.

Earlier Eskom said it would no longer invest in the Nuclear-1 project due to the magnitude of the investment required.

The project would have resulted in the construction of the country's second pressurised water
reactor nuclear power plant.

Aveng was in the EPR consortium led by Areva of France to build the power plant, while rival Murray & Roberts (MUR) was in the N-Powerment consortium led by Westinghouse of the US.

At 16:24, shares in Aveng were down 18 cents at R26.02, after reaching a low of R24.60 and Murray and Roberts slumped R2.10, or 5.12%, to R38.90, touching an intraday low of R37.70.