South African Government Gives Go-Ahead For Pebble-Bed Reactor Project - Cape Argus

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The government has given the final go-ahead for the production of nuclear fuel for the controversial Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) project at Koeberg, and for the transport of both this fuel and the raw material used to produce it.

This follows Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk's dismissal of several appeals against his department's earlier approvals of the project.

The nuclear fuel will be manufactured by the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (Necsa) at a pilot plant within its Beva complex at Pelindaba in North West.

The raw material for the fuel will be transported to Pelindaba from Durban, and the manufactured fuel will be brought from Pelindaba to Koeberg. Meanwhile, the closing date for comments on the Revised Final Scoping Report for the project has been extended to March 10. Scoping is the first phase in the statutory environmental impact assessment (EIA) process.

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