Government to launch its new policy strategy

Public Enterprises Department officials said earlier this year the delay in setting out a policy framework was holding up Eskom's plans to build a new R120bn nuclear plant. Parliament's Public Enterprises Committee also called for urgent finalisation of the policy to assist the phasing-in of the pebble bed modular reactor. Minerals and Energy Department chief director of nuclear affairs Tseliso Maqubela said the major change between the final policy and the draft released for public comment last August was the removal of a proposal to set up an agency devoted to nuclear security. Maqubela said this function should be performed by the national nuclear regulator, in line with international practice. Under the policy, Eskom would drive the nuclear energy programme and would hold a majority stake should the private sector enter the arena. Full Business Day report

And, the government has enlisted the aid of a brand consultant to give the image of nuclear power in SA a major makeover, notes a Legalbrief Environmental report. It is seeking to identify so-called 'nuclear ambassadors' to endorse nuclear power stations in communities and the business world. But opponents fear that the move may be an attempt to short-circuit public consultation as the government presses ahead with its programme to build a dozen more conventional plants and at least twice that number of pebble-bed reactors. The makeover initiative is being led by the Department of Public Enterprises, working with Minerals and Energy and Eskom. They have hired the services of brand consultants Freedthinkers, which calls itself a 'research and development think-tank'. Co-ordinator of the anti-nuclear Pelindaba Working Group Dominique Gilbert, one of those approached by Freedthinkers, said she believed the initiative was more sinister than just a branding exercise. She believed the Freedthinkers project was an effort, using taxpayers' funds, to create a perception of acceptability for the nuclear programme as a means of bypassing public participation processes. Full Legalbrief Environmental report

Staying with nuclear issues, there is mounting resistance to the proposed 4000 MW nuclear reactor at Thyspunt. Jeffreys Bay, home to the annual Billabong Pro, may lose its natural flora if it is not protected, and the proposed reactor at Thyspunt is actually built. The Herald quotes Supertubes Foundation Chief Operations Manager, Alison Kuhl, who says vegetation exclusive to the Southern Cape region will be threatened with extinction if it is not rescued quickly. The nuclear plant is expected to be more than twice the size of the existing plant at Koeberg near Melkbosstrand. After months of research, the Supertubes Foundation, which has embarked on a mission to protect plants and the beaches of Jeffreys Bay, has found that the power plant might be harmful to vulnerable ecosystems, both land-based and marine. As reported in last week's Legalbrief Environmental, surfers from around the globe signed a petition headed 'No nukes in J-Bay' during the recent Billabong Pro, expressing their stand against surfing in radioactive waves. Full report in The Herald