Pretoria - South Africa has welcomed the International Atomic Energy Agency’s efforts to strengthen global nuclear safety, Energy Minister Ben Martins said today.
Martins is attending the 57th session of IAEA conference in Vienna, Austria.
“The operational safety of the nuclear power plants remained high on the global agenda over the past two years …” Martins said.
South Africa has completed and submitted the 6th National Report for the 2014 Review Meeting of the Convention on Nuclear Safety, which provides an update on its activities in compliance with the Articles of the Convention.
Furthermore, South Africa completed a National Report on the implications of the Fukushima accident on Koeberg and Safari-1, which was presented at the August 2012 Extraordinary Meeting of the Convention.
At a regional level, South Africa continues to play an active role in the Forum of Nuclear Regulatory Bodies in Africa (FNRBA). Last month, South Africa was also honoured to host an IAEA regional workshop on Siting and Site Evaluation for Nuclear Installations. The workshop was attended by countries planning to embark on nuclear power such as Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya.
“We wish to express our appreciation to the Agency for its support in making this event a success.
“At a national level, safety reassessments performed at our nuclear facilities identified the need for certain improvements to the plants and the regulatory framework to further enhance safety,” Martins said.
He said the importance of energy security to promote sustainable development and poverty alleviation cannot be overemphasised.
South Africa is implementing the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2010-2030. The plan provides for the contribution of nuclear energy of 9 600 MW to the energy mix by 2030, taking total nuclear energy production to 11 400 MW. This is anticipated to contribute 23% to the new generation capacity. – SAnews.gov.za
