Fuel Fabrication

Appeals Rejected Against PBMR Fuel Plant
30 January 2007

WNN (KOEBERG) — South Africa's Minister for Environmental Affairs and Tourism, has rejected appeals against a pilot plant at Pelindaba to manufacture fuel for Eskom's planned pebble-bed modular reactor (PBMR) at Koeberg. Marthinus van Schalkwyk released his Record of Decision (RoD) on 26 January. He said that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) complied with the necessary requirements and that the plant would not have a “significant detrimental impact on the environment.” The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) had received a total of 27 appeals from various organizations and individuals. The appellants were, among other things, dissatisfied with the EIA process, opposed to the consequences of long-term storage of high-level radioactive waste and contaminated materials, as well as the environmental impacts associated with the pilot fuel plant in terms of radiological safety and accident scenarios, such as graphite fires and health impacts. Source: www.world-nuclear-news.org

Source Reliability: 8

Comment: The Pelindaba Nuclear Research Center is home to the South African nuclear weapons program and the Atomic Energy Board site, which includes the Safari-1 research reactor, a hot cell complex, a waste disposal site, and conversion and fuel fabrication facilities.

-Kelly