- The Vaalputs Nuclear Waste Disposal Facility in the Northern Cape has been officially handed over.
- The handover marks the transfer of operational responsibility for the Vaalputs facility from the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation to the National Radioactive Waste Disposal Institute (NRWDI).
- Vaalputs serves a strategic role in South Africa’s energy security, aligning with the country’s nuclear energy objectives alongside coal and renewable sources.
Metal containers being emplaced in a disposal trench at the Vaalputs Disposal Facility. Image credit: NECSA
The official handover, with the Minister of Electricity and Energy, Dr. Kgosientsho Ramokgopa and Deputy Minister Samantha Graham-Maré, follows the successful attainment of the NIL-43 licence from the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation’s (NECSA) management to the National Radioactive Waste Disposal Institute (NRWDI) to ensure the continuous safe and responsible disposal of radioactive waste from the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station.
South Africa’s National Nuclear Regulator recently granted a nuclear licence to the National Radioactive Waste Disposal Institute for the management and operation disposal facility for low-level radioactive waste at the Vaalputs National Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility in the Northern Cape Province. The facility disposes low-level radioactive waste generated by South Africa’s nuclear, industrial, medical and agricultural sectors. The facility is managed by the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation, under licence from the regulator.
In a statement dated 25 July, the National Nuclear Regulator – the NNR – said its regulatory decision followed a “comprehensive and systematic review” of NRWDI’s licence application.
“Following a robust review process, the NNR review team concluded that NRWDI application satisfied the applicable regulatory requirements in accordance with section 21 of the National Nuclear Regulator Act read with section 30(1) and (8) of the National Radioactive Disposal Institute Act,” said Thiagan Pather, NNR’s Designate Executive: Nuclear Technology and Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
