FRIDAY, 4.00PM
THE Atomic Energy Corporation’s nuclear waste storage facility at Vaalputs in the Northern Cape has leaked radioactivity following the appearance of hairline cracks in concrete blocks containing spent fuel from the Koeberg nuclear reactor outside Cape Town.
AEC head of nuclear waste management Brian Hamilton-Jones attributed the cracks to unusually cold and wet weather. “There is a little bit of radioactive stuff coming out,” he said.
AEC chief executive Waldo Stumpf described the leakage as insignificant, saying: “This is no crisis, and no danger of contamination exists.”
Hamilton-Jones said the intermediate-level nuclear waste was being cemented into six-ton concrete drums at Koeberg before being transported to Vaalputs. “Upon their arrival, we put them into a large trench. The blocks remain exposed until the trench is full, upon which we cover them with two metres of compacted soil.” He said the leaking blocks had been standing exposed to the elements for quite some time, which might have resulted in some wear and tear. Stumpf said Koeberg had of late been delivering waste-containing blocks at longer intervals. “As a result, some of the blocks have been standing for two to three years in the trench waiting to be covered.”
An investigation on how the leaking blocks should be dealt with is under way, Hamilton-Jones said. “It might be sufficient to cover them with compacted soil. We may also decide that the cracks first have to be sealed.”
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