This week controversial plans for mining Uranium in Tanzania are being examined critically by a visiting group of international experts invited by Tanzanian NGO FEMAPO (Foundation for Environmental Management and Campaign Against Poverty).
Many licences have already been issued for exploration. The delegation, consisting of academics and experts from Australia, Cameroon, Germany, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Zambia, has surveyed exploration sites and has met with concerned local communities.
Uranium mining poses a direct threat to the livelihoods of local communities as well as to ecotourism. Community members were outspoken in their opposition to the planned mining.
The group of experts is part of an international conference on the impact of Uranium mining which takes place 10th-11th November in Dar es Salaam.
UK-based Professor Chris Busby, a recognised expert in the health effects of Uranium, will present new scientific evidence of its radio-toxicity and the shortcomings of existing international safety standards. He will say: “New scientific discoveries in the last few years have opened a new era in the understanding of radiation risk. These discoveries significantly impact the regulations governing the mining and processing of Uranium which threaten the health of people and animals in Tanzania.”
FEMAPO is increasing its efforts to highlight the Uranium issue with a series of meetings and consultations in cities and towns in Tanzania, and is gaining national and international support for this work.
“Uranium mining is a new development in Tanzania and one with very serious long-term consequences. Citizens of Tanzania need to be fully informed and involved as stakeholders in any decisions about the future of this industry,” said FEMAPO Director Mathias Paul Boniface.
A media conference will be held at 13:00 Tuesday 10th November at the Rombo Greenview Hotel, Shikilango Road, Dar es Salaam.
For further information contact FEMAPO at +255 787 876 997 Pr. Busby is on +44 7989 828833.
ISSUED BY: Low Level Radiation Campaign http://www.llrc.org/
AS NEW EVIDENCE COMES TO LIGHT ABOUT FAULTY NUCLEAR FACILITY VENTILATION FILTERS…..
MEDIA STATEMENT: 2 April 2009
Is the unabated greed associated with South Africa’s scandalous Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) nuclear experiment the real reason for Pretoria’s “disgraceful” decision to withhold a visa from the Dalai Lama, the anti-nuclear Pelindaba Working Group asked in a statement today?
Having failed after 10 years of taxpayer funding – and now 10 times over budget – to produce a safe PBMR to generate electricity in South Africa, the PBMR Company has now teamed up with their Chinese nuclear counterparts to cause great international embarrassment merely to foist its nuclear agenda on this country rather than scrapping the project.
The ink on this nuclear agreement is barely dry yet nuclear authorities are trying to push through amendments to the Record of Decision (RoD) on the new scaled-up PBMR nuclear fuel factory at Pelindaba seeking an “exemption” from an environmental impact study for a radioactive waste incinerator to “reprocess” spent fuel. This, in spite of there being no final design or safety approval for the PBMRs failed technology.
It seems our nuclear industry have no scruples and will stop at nothing.
Lengthy documents submitted to the Environment Minister on the RoD amendment yesterday provided new evidence that High-Efficiency Particulate Air filters, commonly known as HEPA filters, to be used in the fuel plant have inherent vulnerabilities that are potentially catastrophic.
In declarations currently before a U.S. District Court in Northern California, evidence of veteran U.S. nuclear scientist Marian M. Fulk states HEPA filters won’t protect public health or workers.
Fulk says in his declarations authorities have relied “on unduly optimistic assertions about HEPA filters” derived from an internal lab report that has never been made publicly available and is now “missing from the Administrative Record”.
“There is a wealth of peer-reviewed, credible and publicly-available expert data on the efficiencies of and problems associated with HEPA filters. Therefore, the omission of this information and any detailed analysis of HEPA filter deficiencies…is both baffling and inexcusable,” Fulk says in his declaration under oath.
HEPA filters are all that stands between the radioactive materials inside many a nuclear installation and the surroundings outside of these facilities and is the best the world has to offer. Yet the risk inherent in the vulnerabilities of HEPA filters is potentially catastrophic, even under “best operating conditions”, says Fulk.
They are fitted in the ventilation applications of every one of South Africa’s nuclear facilities, existing and proposed – including Koeberg and Pelindaba.
At which point will authorities in this country say we’ve had enough secretive manipulation from the nuclear industry agenda? Or are the vested interests for some worthy of the huge risks involved, including a snub of the Tibetan spiritual leader the Tibetan government in exile blames on “intense pressure” from China?
Issued by:Dominique Gilbert
Coordinator
PELINDABA WORKING GROUP& member of the nationalCOALITION AGAINST NUCLEAR ENERGYTel: 012 – 205 1125Cell: 083 740 4676EMail: pelindabanonukes@gmail.com
PLEASE NOTE: Fulk’s declarations can be forwarded to those who are interested. In them, this is how he describes his right to a view on HEPA filters:
“I am a Chemical Physicist, retired from the University of California, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 1984, where I served 18 years as a staff scientist in chemical physics and material sciences. At LLNL most of my work was classified, but it included the study of radioactive rainout and aerosols; their dynamics, initiation and growth. At LLNL, I studied problems associated with aerosolized particles and their capture by High Efficiency Particulate Air filters, commonly called HEPA filters. I also studied various toxic and radioactive materials including uranium and plutonium. I have worked professionally on these issues for the University of California and the Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessor agencies, including the Atomic Energy Commission, since my work at the University of Chicago where I conducted research on biological systems beginning in 1945.”
SA, China PBMR projects to cooperate By: Keith Campbell
Published: 30 Mar 09 South Africa’s Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with its Chinese counterparts, the Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology (INET) of Tsinghua University and the Chinergy company. INET and Chinergy are also developing PBMR technology.
The MoU is intended to encourage cooperation in specific areas of common interest, both strategic and technical, concerning both countries’ PBMR projects, to create opportunities regarding the commercialisation of the technology in the future, and to reinforce the supply chains in both countries.
PBMR technology was originaly developed in Germany and subsequently licensed to both South Africa and China, each country further developing the concept, although in somewhat (but not fundamentally) different directions.
The Chinese, unlike the South Africans, actually have an operational PBMR reactor, although it is only a small – 10 MW (thermal) – research unit. Located at INET in Beijing, it is the only operational PBMR in the world, and was started in December 2000, achieving full power in January 2003.
The main difference between the two PBMR projects is that the Chinese will use an indirect cycle, steam turbine system for their commercial-scale demonstration plant, while the South Africans have been developing a direct cycle, gas turbine system.
The Chinese demonstration plant will comprise two 250 MW (thermal) reactor modules and a 210 MW (electric) steam turbine generator set.
However, recently, the South Africans have started developing technology for indirect cycle, steam turbine systems, as a result of increasing interest in process heat and co-generation applications for the PBMR.
This means that the South African programme is now converging with the Chinese, creating more synergies between them. This became very clear at an international high temperature reactor (HTR) conference in Washington, DC, in December.
This was followed, earlier this year, by a visit to South Africa by representatives of INET and Chinergy, who, with their local counterparts, worked out the framework for cooperation.
The PBMR is an HTR design and is so named because its fuel is in the form of spheres. These take the form of enriched uranium oxide coated with silicon carbide and pyrolytic carbon, in turn encased by graphite. The resulting sphere is about the size of a billiard ball.
A fully-loaded PBMR reactor core would contain some 450 000 fuel spheres. Because of its design and and the nature of its fuel, it will be possible to remove spent fuel spheres from the bottom of the PBMR, and feed fresh fuel spheres in at the top, while the reactor is running.
In other designs, the reactor has to be shut down for refuelling to take place.Copyright Creamer Media (Pty) Ltd. All rights reserved.
Dalai Lama’s South Africa conference ban causes uproar
By Chris McGreal in Johannesburg guardian.co.uk, Monday 23 March 2009 18.33 GMT Two of South Africa’s Nobel peace prize winners, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and FW de Klerk, have pulled out of a Johannesburg conference to fight racism after what they branded as Pretoria’s “disgraceful” decision to ban the Dalai Lama from attending following Chinese pressure.The Nobel peace prize committee also said it would boycott this Friday’s conference, which is dedicated to tackling racism ahead of the 2010 World Cup.The row threatens to draw in Nelson Mandela, who, with his fellow South African laureates, invited the Tibetan spiritual leader, and further embarrasses South Africa, which has been accused of squandering its moral authority since ending apartheid by blocking UN security council moves to pressure rogue governments in Burma and Zimbabwe.Tutu, who won the prize for his resistance to white rule, told Johannesburg’s Sunday Independent newspaper he will not attend the conference to discuss how to use the World Cup preparations to combat racism and xenophobia if the Tibetan spiritual leader is not present.“If His Holiness’s visa is refused, then I won’t take part in the coming 2010 World Cup-related peace conference. I will condemn [the] government’s behaviour as disgraceful, in line with our country’s abysmal record at the United Nations security council, a total betrayal of our struggle’s history,” he said.“We are shamelessly succumbing to Chinese pressure. I feel deeply distressed and ashamed.”The FW de Klerk Foundation, established by South Africa’s last white president, said it would also pull out of the conference, albeit reluctantly.“South Africa is a sovereign constitutional democracy and should not allow other countries to dictate to it regarding who it should and should not admit to its territory,” the foundation said in a statement.“Mr De Klerk has been in touch with Archbishop Tutu and identifies himself with the views that he has expressed with regard to the refusal of the South African government to grant a visa to the Dalai Lama.”The Norwegian Nobel peace prize committee also condemned the South African decision.“It is impossible for us to be part of an event where one of the main participants is not able to enter the country,” said Geir Lundestad, the committee’s secretary.The Tibetan government in exile in India today blamed “intense pressure” from China, which has become one of South Africa’s largest trading partners. The claim was apparently confirmed by the Chinese embassy in Pretoria, where the minister counsellor, Dai Bing, was quoted as telling the South African media that his government had warned that allowing the Tibetan spiritual leader to attend the conference would damage bilateral relations.But the South African government denied its decision had anything to do with Beijing. It said the Dalai Lama had been refused a visa because his presence would draw attention away from the World Cup preparations.Thabo Masebe, the spokesman for the president, Kgalema Motlanthe, said the conference organisers had not consulted the government before inviting the Tibetan leader.“We in the South African government have not invited the Dalai Lama to visit South Africa, because it would not be in the interests of South Africa,” he said. “The attention of the world is on South Africa because of it being the host country for the 2010 World Cup, and we wouldn’t want anything to distract from that.”Pretoria has shied away from the Tibetan leader before. Ten years ago, South Africa’s then president, Thabo Mbeki, said he was too busy for a one-to-one meeting with the Dalai Lama.The actors Morgan Freeman, who is to play Mandela in a new film, and Charlize Theron, a South African, are also due to attend the conference.http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/23/dalai-lama-south-africa-world-cup-ban
As South Africa continues to embrace the sham of the “nuclear renaissance” we are seeing an increasing number of ships carrying nuclear cargo pass our shores. Unless nuclear expansion is stopped in this country, many radioactive cargos could be destined for dumping or nuclear waste smelting & reprocessing in this country – an immense health and safety risk ….
‘Keep out nuclear ships’
4 March 2009
Cape Town – An anti-nuclear group has urged the South African government to make sure that two vessels carrying what is reportedly the biggest ever shipment of plutonium stay out of its waters.
“What we don’t want is an accident at sea where we as a country have to carry the consequences,” said Mike Kantey, chairman of the Coalition Against Nuclear Energy, on Tuesday.
The heavily armed Pacific Pintail and the Pacific Heron left Barrow-in-Furness in the north-west of England last week.
They will collect their freight – a load of MOX nuclear fuel containing what environmentalists say are 1800kg of plutonium – at Cherbourg in France, then head for Japan. The route around the Cape is one of a number of possible routes the ships – which have been barred from the Suez Canal – may use. In previous years the Pintail has used the Cape route when carrying nuclear materials.
Kantey said Cane called on the government to ensure that the vessels stayed outside South Africa’s 200 nautical mile economic exclusion zone.
‘No capacity to deal with accident’
He said South Africa did not have the capacity to deal with any accident.
“It’s no good to say it will never happen. There is precedent for a nuclear cargo going down. “It’s a risk that is unacceptable to the South African people.”
Freedom Front Plus Western Cape leader Corne Mulder said in a statement that the ships should not be allowed in South African waters. His party would ask African Union head Muammar Gaddafi to see to it that no African state’s territorial waters were made available to the ships.
“Africa has to protect its territorial integrity at all costs,” he said.
The two ships carry an on-board armed force as a measure against hijacking. MOX, or mixed oxide, is a blend of plutonium and reprocessed uranium.
The MOX on the two ships is intended for use at reactors of three Japanese power companies. Japan relies on nuclear power plants for nearly one-third of its power demands. SAPA
http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/News/0,,2-13-1443_2479323,00.html
‘Risky’ nuke ship passes Cape
7 March 2009
Johannesburg – A massive shipment of plutonium mixed oxide (MOX) is meant to travel via the Cape of Good Hope on Saturday, Greenpeace Africa said in a statement.
“MOX shipments are simply not worth the risk, they are a major terror target and pose an enormous threat to the environment of all countries en route,” said Rianne Teule, nuclear campaigner for Greenpeace International in a statement on Saturday.
The ships, Pacific Pintail and the Pacific Heron, were heavily armed and protected by specially trained British forces, the statement read.
They are to enter South African waters as they make their way from France to Japan.
Poses risk
The shipment left Chebourg port with about 1.8 tonnes of MOX fuel – enough to make 225 nuclear weapons – and will travel via the Cape of Good Hope.
“This MOX transport poses immediate contamination and security risks, and is yet another example of the dangers of nuclear energy… not only is the shipment unnecessary and insecure, there is no evidence that the containers carrying the fuel are safe from accidents,” Teule said.
MOX fuel is an alternative nuclear fuel made up of a mixture of uranium and plutonium.
“This shipment is a reminder to the South African government that the health and environment risks associated with nuclear power are real, and that taking the nuclear route in power generation is not the solution to reducing climate change emissions.
“Nuclear power will provide too little, too late to address climate change and it is a dangerous distraction, sucking billions of rands in funding, away from the real solutions which could already be implemented today,” said Brad Smith, programme director for Greenpeace Africa.
In a bid to stop this shipment, Greenpeace Africa has sent a warning letter to several African environmental ministers including South Africa’s environmental affairs and tourism Minister, Marthinus Van Schalkwyk, urging them to take immediate action against the two ships.
http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2481660,00.html
SA blocks nuclear cruiser
6 January 2009
Cape Town – The Russian navy’s nuclear-powered heavy missile cruiser, Pyotr Velikiy, has been denied entry to Cape Town harbour because the application for it to do so lacked “specific criteria”, South Africa’s National Nuclear Regulator said on Tuesday.
The NNR’s refusal was “based on non-compliance with certain aspects of the licensing requirements”, a spokesperson for the regulatory body, Gino Moonsamy, told Sapa.
The SA Navy had submitted an application to the NNR in December for the Pyotr Velikiy – Russian for Peter the Great – to visit Cape Town from January 9 to 12.
Moonsamy said the specific criteria for the refusal related to a safety certificate from the Russian regulatory authority; a liability letter that provided only for international nuclear damage; and an emergency plan that was “not comprehensive enough”.
Asked if the NNR would consider a revised application, Moonsamy said if such documentation was submitted, it would be reviewed by the regulator.
Five years ago, a Russian navy chief said the Pyotr Velikiy, launched in 1996, was unfit for service.
According to news agency reports at the time, Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov said the massive 256-metre long cruiser “was being poorly maintained”.
The Pyotr Velikiy is heavily armed, carrying both surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles, including 20 long-range Granit anti-ship missiles, and is described by Jane’s Navy International as an “immensely powerful” warship.
It is powered by two 300MW nuclear reactors, and has auxillary steam boilers.
The SA Navy on Tuesday said it was continuing with preparations for the visit.
“The SA Navy is continuing with all preparations for the visit while other role-players sort out the NNR’s requirements,” said navy spokesperson Lieutenant-Commander Greyling van der Berg. -SAPA
http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2449286,00.html
South Africa’s nuclear industry want to try to get the PBMR fuel ROD amended yet again – with the third or fourth new set of Environmental Consultants appointed – each one more driven than the last to get through the public comment period as fast as possible & drive the process using the new legal loopholes as far as we will allow them.
- The fuel manufacture is happening at Pelindaba but is another step towards the PBMR being built – so please mobilize country wide communities to lodge objections to the increased quantity of fuel (originally the ROD was given for the 110 MW PBMR) now they want to increase that to allow for the increased fuel for the new PBMR.
- They also want to include a (small) radioactive incinerator smelter and are asking for an EIA exemption.
- They are also asking for a change in wording of the ROD already issued (so that it is clear what the requirements are)
This falls into the grand scheme of things the State wants to do & includes:
1. Complete the PBMR Environment Impact Report and achieve a positive Record of Decision before the elections.
2. Continue with the EIAs for Nuclear-1 at Bantamsklip, Thyspunt and Koeberg up to an including a positive Record of Decision
3. Continue with the EIAs for infrastructure (Roads and Powerlines, included), so that there will be NO LEGAL OPPOSITION when the time comes to impose their will.
4. Spend several more billion rand on the PBMR (Pty) Ltd Company.
URGENTLY please take a few minutes TODAY before the 13th February 2009 to register as an Interested and Affected Person (I&AP) with Strategic Environmental Management Consultants about an application to amend the Record of Decision (ROD) for the PBMR Nuclear Fuel Plant at Pelindaba.
Public comment starts on 16th FEB closes 18th March 2009 but you need to register TODAY and ask for relevant documentation to be sent to you.
The contact is Sean O’ Beirne
PO Box 100339
Moreleta Plaza
0167
sobeirne@sesolutions.co.za
0829039751
ANYONE MAY REGISTER & IS URGED TO DO SO IF YOU WISH TO PLAY YOUR PART IN PUTTING AN END TO THE PBMR PROJECT .
Regards
Dominique Gilbert
Coordinator
PELINDABA WORKING GROUP
& member of the national
COALITION AGAINST NUCLEAR ENERGY
Tel: 012 – 205 1125
Cell: 083 740 4676
By Zelda Venter
The Star 19/12/08
A former operator at the uranium enrichment plant at Valindaba, west of Pretoria, believes he contracted multiple myeloma (cancer of the blood plasma) while on duty and is thus entitled to workman’s compensation.
Tilman Roux (62) claimed that the cancer might be related to his being exposed to radiation while he worked at the plant about 30 years ago.
The Compensation Commissioner (CC), however, earlier turned down Roux’s application on the ground that his illness was not work-related.
On Tuesday, Roux will head for the Pretoria High Court for an order to either declare that he is entitled to compensation or to force the CC to properly consider his application.
Roux also wants the Nuclear Energy Corporation of SA (Necsa) to make information available to the office of the CC to enable it to investigate the circumstances under which he worked at the plant. These include the radiation levels in the plant during the time he worked there, as well as records of all incidents and accidents relevant to his claim.
Roux said he was diagnosed with cancer last year and was told by his doctor that it might be related to exposure to ionising radiation. He said his only exposure to such radiation was when he was employed at Valindaba between 1974 and 1982.
“My condition has steadily worsened from June last year and I am now experiencing excruciating pain, for which I require high doses of morphine.
“I was advised by my doctor that my condition will become terminal unless I receive immediate treatment in the form of chemotherapy and stem cell transplant,” Roux stated in court papers.
http://www.security.co.za/fullStory.asp?NewsId=11115
Man seeks compensation for cancer
December 19, 2008
PRETORIA: A 62-year-old former operator at the uranium enrichment plant at Valindaba, west of Pretoria, who has multiple Myeloma (cancer of the blood plasma), believes that he contracted the illness while on duty and is entitled to workman’s compensation.
Tilman Roux said the cancer might be related to him being exposed to radiation while he was working at the plant 30 years ago.
The Compensation Commissioner, however, earlier turned down Roux’s application on the ground that his illness was not work related. Roux will ask the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday for either an order declaring that he is entitled to compensation or that the commission be ordered to properly consider his application.
Roux also wants the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa to make information available to the commission to enable it to investigate the circumstances under which he had worked at the plant.
These include the radiation levels in the plant during the time he worked there and records of all incidents and accidents which may be relevant to his claim.
Roux said when he was diagnosed with cancer last year was told by his doctor that it might be related to exposure to ionising radiation. He said his only exposure to ionising radiation was between 1974 and 1982 when he was employed at Valindaba. – Mercury Correspondent
http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4767721
COMMENT:
We are grateful that finally there is a case now before the courts involving the shoddy treatment of former nuclear workers at Pelindaba Complex. If the truth be known, there are over 500 ill former workers who have approached the environmental justice organisation Earthlife Africa seeking assistance for compensation. Their former employers have held back medical and work records in many cases and even denied knowledge of some of these workers – this despite the fact that many worked for sub-contractors to the nuclear plant but were required to comply with all the normal security regulations.
There continue to be any number of these workers who, according to an Occupational Health medical practitioner who incidentally helped write the relevant legislation, believes they qualify for compensation. Yet, their former employers have white-washed the findings of the doctor’s study, and the Compensation Commissioner appears to have turned down their applications. Government officials have promised to help these people but to date no-one has. At last count, well over 20 of those former workers who came forward for assistance two years ago have now died.
Many of these people tell gruelling stories. Let’s hope the truth will out before it is too late – not only for the workers but also the surrounding populations. Nuclear waste, ionizing radiation and the emissions and pollution from normal operations (excluding accidents) is already deadly enough to cause long term harm which in many cases takes years to manifest. Then it’s too late.
Dominique Gilbert
Coordinator
PELINDABA WORKING GROUP
& member of the national
COALITION AGAINST NUCLEAR ENERGY
