Three sites under consideration for Eskom's pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR) - Thyspunt, Bantamsklip and Pelindaba - have been ruled out as suitable locations for the proposed demonstration model of the nuke.
According to the draft environmental impact report released on Tuesday, Thyspunt, near Cape St Francis, and Bantamsklip, near Pearly Beach, have been eliminated because of their "greenfield" status.
All three were eliminated because of the lack of infrastructure and the high cost of providing it.
Pelindaba was ruled out after the Nuclear Energy Corporation of SA (Necsa) stated "categorically" that it was not responsible for generating electricity, but for the manufacture of nuclear fuel.
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| It was unlikely to begin producing commercial electricity before 2023 |
The report quotes Necsa as saying: "Unless the national energy policy and strategy for South Africa is altered to reflect Necsa as a commercial power generator, and the Nuclear Energy Act is amended accordingly, it will not be possible to locate the demonstration power plant at Pelindaba."
The only site left was Koeberg.
The report said if the PBMR demo model were authorised, it was unlikely to begin producing commercial electricity before 2023. This was two years before many of the country's existing power stations would have to be decommissioned5.
If approved, construction "could commence" in 2010, with the plant being commissioned in 2016. There would then be a seven-year period of "non-commercial" operation, to assess the commercial viability of the pebble bed.
All uranium for the fuel would come from mines in South Africa. Depleted fuel would be stored on site at Koeberg, as is the case with the spent fuel from Koeberg's nuclear reactors.
No licensed site exists where high-level radioactive waste can be dumped. The low-and medium-level radioactive waste is to be trucked to Vaalputs in the Northern Cape.
The demonstration plant would have a footprint of about 9ha. There would be destruction of wetland habitat to construct the transmission lines, destruction of a sensitive wetland habitat because of the modification of the Modder River, and "extensive destruction of pristine natural habitat" for laydown areas.
There would be loss of dune thicket, sandplain fynbos and impacts on the primary dune system. Of the 321 plant species on the site, 22 (6,9 percent) are threatened.
The report found, however, there were "no environmental fatal flaws that should prevent the proposed project from proceeding", provided the mitigation measures were implemented.
Eskom said on Tuesday no decision had been taken on the procurement and investment for proposed Nuclear-1 pressurised water reactor nuclear power station. It said the process was likely to be finalised by the end of the year. It was "inappropriate" to speculate when this would be.
Earlier reports were that Eskom was expected to announce a decision between France's Areva and the US-based Westinghouse Electric by the end of last month.
- This article was originally published on page 3 of Cape Times on October 01, 2008
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