Earthlife Africa said on Friday it was shocked and outraged that the environmental impact assessment of a planned nuclear reactor at Koeberg, near Cape Town, had been approved by the Environmental Affairs Department.
The environmental organisation said it had already secured a court date for September 9 to continue their court action — an urgent application to the Pretoria High Court failed early in June — against Eskom’s proposed construction of a pebble bed modular reactor at Koeberg.
With the approval, prior to the court case, the department ”appears to be ignoring the legal process, a case of bad manners at the least”, Earthlife said.
”The department appears to have adopted a cart before horse approach, washing its hands of any responsibility for the critical environmental issues, those of safety and waste,” said Liz McDaid of Earthlife.
”We are in the process of consulting with our legal advisers but we will certainly consider taking the decision on appeal and judicial review is not ruled out,” she said.
Eskom welcomed the decision saying it paved the way for the next phase of a ”locally-driven, leading edge nuclear technology project”.
It said the decision was ”a major step towards the completion of the detailed feasibility phase of the project, which included an intensive environmental impact assessment performed by independent environmental impact assessment consultants”.
Eskom also said it would be inappropriate to comment on specific issues during the current 30-day period in which any parties may lodge appeals with the Environmental Affairs Department, since the appeals would be handled by that ministry.
Earthlife said the impact assessment process has been ”totally flawed”, and it found the ”Pontius Pilate (washing its hands) attitude of government to its responsibilities extremely worrying”.
”Despite considered opposition from public and environmental groups including opposition from the Cape Town local authority, despite no solution for the spent fuel, despite using consultants who had worked for Eskom for the last 15 years, and despite numerous process and content problems, the government has approved the (assessment report).”
Earthlife also said it had hoped the recent news of the long-term cost of nuclear power in the United Kingdom, and the multi-billion rand cleanup Bill that Britain and ultimately its people would have to bear, would be enough to convince the South African government that nuclear power was uneconomical.
The department was not immediately available for comment. – Sapa