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You are encouraged to comment on the Nuclear Gazette BEFORE tonight’s deadline

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After Eskom surreptitiously slipped a critical gazette regarding Nuclear procurement under the public participation radar (which would have enabled them to acquire licenses to build two new nuclear plants without proper public scrutiny), OUTA’s urgent calls for submissions to the Nuclear Gazette already garnered more than 17 000 individual submissions through its portal by the 28th of August 2016, one day before the controversial “deadline.”

OUTA tracks all the submissions made through its portal to ensure that government cannot deny receipt. OUTA makes a plea to as many members of society as possible to still comment before the deadline tonight at midnight (the 29th of August) through its web portal available at www.outa.co.za/nuclear

In light of the various glaring errors and omissions in the Gazette, ESKOM have a specific future legal responsibility towards those that have commented on this gazette: Every person that commented on the gazette is by law, an interested and affected party, and Eskom are required to inform them specifically and individually of the placement of the new notice, should a new notice be published.

“With over 17 000 submissions thus far, this high volume of public submissions indicates a growing active citizenry on the Nuclear issue, one which the Regulator and Government as a whole cannot ignore,” says Wayne Duvenage, Chairman of OUTA.

We trust Eskom will conduct a more extensive and nationally based engagement process on the issue of not only the locations, but also many other pertinent aspects of the Nuclear Energy issue, and will be watching their actions carefully.

Having noticed that Eskom had decided to advertise the location of a Nuclear Energy reactor site, which is a national issue, in a Regional instead of National Gazette, OUTA decided to encourage the public to participate in commenting on the Gazettes.

In addition to the positioning of the Gazette and respective notices, OUTA pointed out a gross error in the time allotted for public commentary, which fell well short of the minimum 30 days required.

OUTA listed a number of additional concerns related to the Gazettes, which seek to approve the sites at Thyspunt and Duynefontein. OUTA invited the public to participate in making submissions to the Government about these decisions, through a portal on its website. Some of the concerns relate to insufficient information to comment, including; what type or nuclear reactors will be installed at these sites, the impact of these Nuclear reactors on the the marine and inland environments, and a host of other concerns.

Furthermore, we are concerned that the decision to build these Nuclear Reactors precedes the entire decision on the ability of the nation to afford the Nuclear option, plus the lack of transparency and societal debate on alternatives.

OUTA encourages the public at large to still comment using its portal www.outa.co.za/nuclear before the deadline tonight.

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.