South Africa’s National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) has granted the National Radioactive Waste Disposal Institute (NRWDI) the nuclear licence to manage and operate the Vaalputs National Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility, located in the Northern Cape.

The licence has been held hitherto by the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation, or Necsa.

In a statement, the NNR said its decision followed a comprehensive review of the licence application submitted by NRWDI, which has the statutory mandate to manage radioactive waste disposal in South Africa.

The NNR said the licensed activities permitted under the scope of the authorisation were limited to:

• The receipt of low-level radioactive waste in approved waste packages;
• The temporary storage of waste packages in shielded areas within the facility reception hall;
• The transfer of radioactive materials and contaminated equipment to other authorised facilities; and
• The disposal of low-level waste packages in engineered near-surface trenches. 

NNR designate executive for nuclear technology and naturally occurring radioactive material Thiagan Pather reported that the approval followed a “robust review process”.

He added that the NNR concluded that NRWDI’s application had satisfied the applicable regulatory requirements in accordance with section 21 of the National Nuclear Regulator Act, read together with section 30(1) and (8) of the National Radioactive Disposal Institute Act.

The NNR added that it would continue to maintain regulatory control over activities at the Vaalputs site, including inspections, audits and safety reviews to ensure ongoing compliance with all health, safety and environmental protection regulatory requirements.

It has been reported previously that the transfer of the licence from Necsa will immediately increase NRWDI’s revenue, which will arise in the form of waste disposal fees from radioactive waste generators, in particular Necsa and Eskom.

This revenue, which is estimated at about R50-million over the coming three years, will be used for the Vaalputs low-level waste disposal function.

Separately, NRWDI has indicated that it is also moving ahead with preliminary designs for a so-called Centralised Interim Storage Facility (CISF) at the Vaalputs site to store high-level radioactive waste in the form of spent fuel rods arising from Eskom’s Koeberg nuclear power station from 2030 onwards.

The development of a CISF at Vaalputs could involve capital expenditure of R1.9-billion, but remained subject to the receipt of environmental authorisations, community consultation and the NNR’s regulatory approval.

Some community and agricultural groups have expressed concern that the creation of the facility at Vaalputs could undermine community safety and food security and have argued that there has been insufficient public consultation and transparency.