Nuclear hearings scheduled
Whole issue must still be discussed, committee head argues
PARLIAMENT’s portfolio committee on energy is to hold public hearings on the government’s plan to build 9 600MW of nuclear power reactors‚ setting itself on a collision course with the executive and the Department of Energy‚ which argue there has already been extensive consultation on nuclear energy.
The procurement process has been shrouded in secrecy and is already under way with the Department of Energy planning to select a strategic partner by the end of the financial year.
But there is suspicion among the public and the ANC that the rushed procurement and absence of public consultation is the result of politicians in a hurry to push through the deal before their terms of office end.
Chairman of the committee Fikile Majola said at the weekend his committee would hold hearings to open up the nuclear energy issue for rational discussion. “The whole process has been treated as a secretive project but if (it) were opened for discussion it would not be so controversial. Government can’t go secretly into a process like this.
“If we opened this up‚ we could convince a number of people of its necessity and at least there would have been a debate‚” he said.
Because of the secrecy “people look at this deal and say something stinks”.
His comments follow those he made last week after the committee completed an oversight visit to the Nuclear Energy Corporation of SA in which he first raised the need for public discourse.
The committee will reconvene this week‚ following the visit and the recess‚ and the matter of how to involve the public will be tabled for discussion.
Majola’s approach is in stark contrast to that of the minister and the department. Deputy director-general in the department Zizamele Mbambo on Saturday said “the nuclear programme has already involved extensive public consultations”.
The nuclear energy policy of 2008 was approved only after public consultation and the process leading to the cabinet approval of the Integrated Resource Plan 2010 had also involved extensive public consultation‚ he said. Public hearings that led to the adoption of the IRP 2010 were held over four days and included 81 submissions‚ several from antinuclear lobby groups as well as from business‚ labour and civil society groups.
Mbambo said there would also be an opportunity for public consultation when the successful vendor applied for licensing with the National Nuclear Regulator.
Environmental impact assessments‚ which have mostly been completed by Eskom‚ which had planned a nuclear procurement in 2008‚ had also involved public consultation.
Mbambo said the department could not comment on parliamentary processes and the suggestion that there should be public hearings.
The minister‚ Tina Joemat-Pettersson‚ has made it clear she believes the time for talking about nuclear energy is over.
Shortly after her appointment in June last year she said it was time for decisive action. “Nuclear will be used.”
It is expected that antinuclear lobby groups‚ political parties and other stakeholders will contest this interpretation.
Among the first is the Legal Resources Centre (LRC)‚ acting for environmental lobbyists Earthlife Africa‚ which has written to Majola requesting him to advise when discussion over the procurement process will take place in the committee. The LRC also requested information on the five intergovernmental nuclear agreements signed by SA in the past year.
Majola said the committee would hold a discussion on how to process the intergovernmental agreements as well as the request from the LRC to afford its clients an opportunity to be heard.
On Friday‚ Cosatu again appealed to the government to consider the negative aspects of nuclear energy‚ which it described as expensive compared to other technologies; the fact that it would involve importing skills and would not create many jobs; and the safety and environmental risks for workers and the public. — BDLive