On Monday 15 July 2024, the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) granted Eskom a licence to continue operating Koeberg Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 for another 20 years until 21 July 2044.

The decision was made just seven days before the licence expired and civil society organisations are in uproar about what they regard as a rushed and ill-considered decision.

Pressured decision
Peter Becker, former director of the NNR and member of KAA, said, “I am concerned about this last minute decision by the NNR made just one week before the licence for unit one actually expires. The NNR has been under tremendous pressure to make this decision and we don’t believe that they have had time to properly consider all the submissions from the public.

“The NNR was found to be “insufficiently independent” by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) since 2013, in May 2022 board members were threatened by Minister Mantashe with dismissal if they did not advocated for nuclear power, and a recent Supreme Court ruling in June 2024 found ‘The Board itself and its chair have also adopted a pro-nuclear stance…’. We call for the full record of decision to be made public, so that we can see what responses, if any, there were to the many issues that were raised during the public consultation process.”

Youth activist, Gabriel Klaasen, said: “With the NNR’s decision put forward one can only truly wonder how in the extremely short span of time, days ahead of when the plant’s licence was meant to expire, they were able to properly review all the information at hand. I am disgusted to see this co-opted, unapologetically pro-nuclear board make this decision despite the overwhelming majority of the public who attended the hearings being against the extension.”

“Community members, youth, and civil society organisations find themselves enraged with the blatant disregard for the public’s safety, opinions, and lived realities,” said Klaasen.

SAFCEI’s campaign coordinator, Maia Nangle, said: “If the NNR had adequately done their job of being the nuclear watchdog, properly read through all of the available documents (some of which are completely out of date), taken the 2022 IAEA report listing 14 safety issues with Koeberg seriously, interrogated the emergency plans in place, and actually listened to the views of the public in the limited public participation process; the decision on the extension of Koeberg would have been a resounding no. It is clear that the NNR decision is not based on the interests of the public or the environment.”

Risks to public safety
Becker continued: “A list of risks to the NNR was included in their annual performance plan submitted to parliament in 2022, and one of these risks was ‘undue pressure to finalise informed regulatory decision for LTO” which is the Long Term Operation or Koeberg life extension. This was categorised as ‘critical’ and no steps were identified to adequately mitigate this risk. It seems that risk has now manifested, and the NNR, after rushing through a poorly run public consultation process, made the decision that Eskom has always assumed they would.”

An example of the rushed nature of the process was the Seismic Hazard Report which was only completed in March 2024, leaving two months for this highly technical report at over 1000 pages to be analysed and commented on by the public before the submission deadline. This report is labelled ‘revision 0’ which implies it is a draft and not even finalised.

“Eskom had identified the need for this report in 2007 and it should have been completed years ago,” added Becker. “We are also concerned that neither the NNR nor Eskom seem to have taken the IAEA report of 2022 very seriously. That report identified fourteen safety issues including that the ‘Containment structure monitoring system is not fully functional’ and that an unexplained leak was found ‘in sumps of the Nuclear Auxiliary Building 2’, ‘and their contents are highly radioactive’. Eskom has said they are not bound to follow recommendations from the IAEA and the NNR have stated that their approval process is separate and independent from the IAEA inspection reports.”

“Can we trust that the NNR board has our best interests at heart in terms of safety and the environment or are they just ensuring they have board fees going forwards?” asked Project 90 by 2030’s Director, Lorna Fuller. “How many of the NNR board live in the 16km zone evacuation zone around Koeberg? I bet if they had actually read at least some of the 300+ documents thrown into the mix for this decision to be made they would probably ensure that they live well outside the danger zone!”

Public hearings were called a “sham”
The process of public consultation run by the NNR was beset by issues. For the public to be meaningfully consulted, all of the safety information relating to Koeberg should have been released in early 2022 when Eskom first submitted the life extension application to the NNR. Instead civil society organisations have had to resort to repeated PAIA applications for the release of vital documents which were sometimes heavily redacted, in draft form or released too late for proper review.

Likewise the public hearings held in 2024 were rejected by civil society due to a lack of transparency and withheld information which made meaningful participation impossible. “Whilst public hearings were held in February and June 2024, the public were not made aware of the safety issues, and costs that accompany the life extension, leaving them paralysed to make decisions and actively participate,” said Klaasen. “All this could have been avoided had the NNR board position of community representative not been vacant in this period.”

Lack of community representation on NNR board
On 28 June 2024, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) dismissed with costs appeals by (the previous) Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe against a decision of the Western Cape High Court where the court found that Peter Becker was unlawfully dismissed as a board member of the NNR. Becker was put forward by civil society organisations as their representative.

“The management and board of the NNR fabricated allegations of misconduct against me in order to justify a request for the Minister to dismiss me from the board. This was confirmed by the Supreme Court ruling which found there was in fact no misconduct, and my dismissal was unlawful, done in bad faith with an ulterior motive.” according to Becker

The two and a half year legal battle between Becker and the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy and the NNR meant that the community representative role remained vacant for the duration at a critical time for nuclear decision-making in South Africa.

“This left vulnerable and marginalised communities without a voice in an extremely crucial time where decisions that would impact them for the next 20 years were being made,” said Klaasen.

There are also concerns over the effectiveness of the emergency and evacuation plan for Koeberg. “The most recent drill by the NNR in November 2022, found 14 non-compliances with the licence requirements, but the NNR have refused to respond to a request to provide a copy of the report on this drill, and also Eskom and the NNR have both refused request to provide proof in the form of correspondence that these issues have been addressed.” said KAA spokesperson, Lydia Petersen. “As far as we know, if an accident were to happen tomorrow, the City of Cape town does not even have the required decontamination equipment needed to safely remove radioactive contaminants from members of the public who might be exposed to material leaked from the plant”.

Conclusion
It’s been four years since President Cyril Ramaphosa made a promise to “make sure no African child is left behind in the transition to a low-carbon, climate resilient and sustainable society,” concluded Fuller. “In this time much has happened behind closed doors, without community engagement that is, but very little has actually changed on the ground for communities. All this actively doing the opposite of Ramaphosa’s words. This is evident in various sectors of society, and particularly in the energy sector.”

“The decision taken by the NNR to extend unit one’s licence for 20 years, has raised significant concerns, particularly in light of the unresolved safety concerns,” said Petersen. “This begs the question: does this extension prioritise the so-called “reliable and sustainable energy supply” over the safety of surrounding communities and the environment? As key safety concerns remain, the extension decision underscores the need for transparent oversight by the NNR to ensure that safety is not compromised and the communities of Cape Town are not at risk of an accident at this ageing plant, followed by an ineffective attempt at evacuation.”