Responding to a Parliamentary question posed the DA's Dr Pierre Rabie, Peters said that a draft environmental impact report, published in 2011, identified Thyspunt, located between Oyster Bay and St Francis Bay, in the Eastern Cape, as the preferred site for an initial project with a maximum capacity of 4 000 MW.
South Africa's Integrated Resource Plan for electricity proposed the development of 9 600 MW of nuclear energy capacity by 2030, she said, adding that alternative sites had also been identified at Bantamsklip and Duynefontein, in the Western Cape, should Thyspunt fail to be approved as the first new nuclear power station site. Peters said the programme still required several "authorisations and approvals". The government was still considering a study commissioned to assess lessons from the Fukushima nuclear crisis, which followed on from Japan's March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami.
According to Engineering News, a total of 28 specialist studies had been completed for the report, including studies related to fauna and flora, wetlands, dune morphology, transport, heritage and socioeconomic activities. "The studies that have been conducted to date have not identified any fatal flaws on the three sites," the minister said. The National Nuclear Energy Executive Coordination Committee, chaired by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, had also been established to oversee the possible restart of a nuclear build programme.
Read the full article on www.engineeringnews.co.za.
