Issued by Amirah Hassim on behalf of the FW de Klerk Foundation on 14/08/2025

The FW de Klerk Foundation notes with concern the government’s intention to develop a centralised interim facility at Vaalputs (Namaqualand) for the storage of spent nuclear fuel (high-level waste). Vaalputs has historically received only low-and intermediate-level waste from Koeberg and the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation’s (“Necsa”) SAFARI reactor. The site’s remoteness, poor road conditions and limited cellular reception raise practical questions about emergency response during transport incidents and ongoing monitoring. These realities demand transparency, credible risk assessment and genuine public participation before any decision is taken.

Institutionally, the National Radioactive Waste Disposal Institute (“NRWDI”) has now been licensed to operate the Vaalputs facility, which is currently only authorised for the disposal and storage of low-level waste. Any move to store high-level waste would require a separate, rigorous licensing process by the National Nuclear Regulator (“NNR”) with demonstrable compliance to safety standards.

Our constitutional yardstick is clear. Section 24 of the Constitution guarantees everyone the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being and obliges the state to protect the environment for present and future generations. Decisions of this magnitude must also meet the standards of accountable, participatory and lawful administration, as per section 195 of the Constitution. Proceeding without publishing a full, law-compliant Environmental Impact Assessment, credible transport and emergency-response planning and an open reasons-giving process would be inconsistent with these constitutional imperatives.

The youth dimension cannot be ignored. Youth unemployment stood at 46,1% in Q1-2025. Public trust in major infrastructure decisions, especially those affecting rural economies and food value chains, directly influences prospects for skills pipelines, local employment and intergenerational equity. Involving young people, local producers and independent experts in a transparent process is not a box-ticking exercise – it is essential to legitimacy and long-term sustainability.

International experience shows that the safest permanent solution for high-level waste is deep geological disposal. Finland and Sweden are the most advanced: Finland’s programme is entering operational phases at Onkalo and Sweden has begun constructing its Forsmark repository after receiving the necessary approvals. South Africa should benchmark against these best-practice regimes while ensuring domestic compliance and community consent at every step.

Accordingly, the Foundation calls for a pause on any commitment to high-level storage at Vaalputs until: an Environmental Impact Assessment is completed and published with meaningful participation; an independently reviewed, end-to-end risk and emergency-response plan is released; and clear, reasoned decisions are issued with enforceable monitoring and governance guarantees.

Energy security is vital, but it must never come at the expense of constitutional rights, public safety, or environmental integrity.