Nuclear Africa

General information

Nuclear Power has been in commercial operation around the world for sixty years. It has shown itself to be a reliable cost effective form of electricity production. Notwithstanding the visible evidence, there has been considerable public fear and suspicion of nuclear technology, globally. Much of this is attributable to a vociferous anti-nuclear lobby which seems to be largely driven by political ideology, rather than by real scientific evidence of any problems with the operation of nuclear power.
Even in the emotive area of safety, nuclear power has shown itself to be extremely safe. Dire predictions of the possible consequences of potential nuclear accidents were made decades ago, but actual events have subsequently shown them to be unfounded. Nuclear power operates with the highest level of safety protocols of any power source, but the public are largely unaware of this.
South Africa has declared its intention of progressing with the implementation of a major nuclear power development programme. Furthermore the South African government has declared that the implementation of the programme must involve significant construction and fabrication localisation. Such an economic reality cannot be overlooked or underestimated.
To achieve this objective, and therefore to rapidly advance the nuclear power programme, the intentions of government, and the abilities and ambitions of industry, must be brought together in a mutually beneficial manner.
Nuclear Africa has been formed to tackle this objective. To achieve this objective the various players must be brought into productive contact with one another. Nuclear Africa endeavours to do this. In addition, a critical element is to promote public understanding and acceptance of the processes involved in the building of nuclear power plants. Government is committed to public transparency in nuclear decision making, and can therefore only move as rapidly as public opinion allows. Nuclear Africa is also active in the field of the public understanding of the complex and mysterious arena which surrounds the topic of nuclear power. This objective is being tackled on a national and international stage because international collaboration is essential for South Africa’s nuclear ambitions.
Nuclear Africa is working to implement a strategy to bring all parties into productive interaction in an open and transparent manner, so that scientifically based decisions can be taken and implemented with wisdom.