The approval for a 4,000-megawatt facility at Duynefontein, adjacent to the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station, comes at a time when South Africa can neither afford, nor does it need a new nuclear power station. The South African fiscus cannot afford any new nuclear build, the Finance Minister said so on 25 October 2016.
If we invest in nuclear, we'll have less money for water and education - needed in the province and the rest of the country.
Nuclear is not the cheap, safe and affordable option it is often presented as. Instead it is costly, dangerous and nuclear accidents are devastating:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_and_radiation_accidents_and_incidents
With high unemployment rate in SA, we should be investing in renewable energy as it will be available much quicker than nuclear and it creates more jobs - and is far less dangerous. Nuclear creates fewer jobs than renewable energy generation. In terms of the nuclear jobs potential in SA, the Russian state-owned nuclear company Rosatom stated in mid-2013 that 15,000 new jobs would be created directly by the procurement. However, in March of this year, that number dropped significantly, to only 5,760.
The whole Nuclear Deal is shrouded in secrecy. What is worse is that as usual the SA government continues to make key energy decisions in secret -- which will have a negative impact on current and future generations in South Africa -- and without any input from the people.
Please sign - to Say NO to The New Nuclear Power Plant plans and urge the government to invest in sustainable renewable energy.
