The environmental impact assessment of a planned nuclear reactor at Koeberg, near Cape Town, has been approved, the environmental affairs department said on Thursday.
The conditional approval also extended to the manufacturing and transportation of nuclear fuel between Pelindaba, west of Pretoria, and Koeberg, it said in a statement.
The decision was taken by the department’s director-general, Crispian Olver, following a three-year investigation into an application by Eskom to construct a demonstration pebble bed modular reactor at Koeberg.
”Thorough environmental impact assessments were undertaken, and the outcome of these studies indicated that the environmental impact of the developments were acceptable.”
Earlier this month, the Pretoria High Court struck from the roll an urgent application by environmental organisation Earthlife Africa to stall Olver’s decision until it was given a chance to make further representations.
The court found the application was not urgent. The organisation indicated afterwards it would press ahead with its challenge, even though this could take months through the ordinary court process.
Departmental spokesperson Mava Scott said the court challenge should now fall away as a matter of course. Earthlife Africa and any other concerned entity or individual had 30 days to appeal against Olver’s decision to Environmental
Affairs and Tourism Minister Valli Moosa.
The statement said Olver was satisfied with public participation in the process.
”Adequate provision has been made for the public to participate and to raise issues of concern. These have been thoroughly documented and addressed,” it quoted him as saying.
The decision did not mean that construction of the reactor could go ahead.
A separate licensing process was underway by the National Nuclear Reactor, which deals with matters of nuclear safety. Also, the minerals and energy department was dealing with policy issues regarding the use of nuclear power and the storage of
nuclear waste -which emerged as the key areas of concern during the environmental assessment process.
That department was finalising a radio-active waste management policy and strategy.
”Adherence to and alignment with this policy is a condition of these approvals,” Olver said. – Sapa