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THTR Circular No. 85 Sept. 2003


Resistance at the Cape - Silence in Germany

Events roll over in South Africa. The objection period against the approval of the environmental impact assessment for the planned Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) expired on July 25th. Numerous protests and public pressure meant that Environment and Tourism Minister Chippy Olver * had to extend the objection period to August 25th.

During this time, the Cape Town Chamber of Commerce, which had previously advocated the construction of the PBMR just 28 km north of the city of three million in Koeberg, carried out a reassessment of the economic viability of this planned reactor. In these days it became known that huge natural gas fields had been discovered on the west coast of South Africa! This event gave a lasting boost to the energy debate in South Africa about alternatives to nuclear power. A new study by Forest Oil found that a gas-fired power plant on the west coast would be more economical and would have far-reaching consequences for economic development.

A coalition of the ANC and the New National Party (the former ruling party of the apartheid regime) governs the province of Cape Town, which has so far been rather skeptical about the planned construction of the PBMR. However, in order not to jeopardize the coalition peace, the provincial government finally spoke out in favor of the nuclear project. However, representatives of the city of Cape Town went to Pretoria to the federal government with their concerns and were urged there to support the ANC's national pro-nuclear line.

However, the majority of Cape Town's city councilors decided to instruct the chief city director to object. What he then did on the last day before the objection period expired. This is an important partial success!

Coincidentally, at that time, a few hundred meters from Cape Town, a freighter carrying 50 tons of medium-enriched uranium ran aground.

In Germany, those responsible for nuclear power know-how export try to keep the problem quiet. Environment Minister Trittin has not only not responded to our request for 6 months, but also ignores questions from the green district association of Münster. Research Minister Bulmahn wrote to us that in the future Forschungszentrum Jülich should prepare a so-called expertise on some safety aspects of the PBMR and has not responded to our specific inquiries for four months. Foreign Minister Fischer, who visited South Africa in 2000 and under whose suzerainty the current nuclear cooperation between Germany and South Africa was agreed, is also silent.

Gradually we will have to think about how to deal with the behavior of those responsible. In August I was with our webmaster Werner Neubauer in Berlin to visit suitable protest locations at certain PBMR-involved government agencies and to establish contacts with the media and groups in Berlin. We will report on this later. During this period the contact with South Africa came about - an absolute stroke of luck! Within a few days, 21 pages of our website www.thtr-a.de were translated into English and posted on the Internet within a few hours. That was close: a few days before the objection period expired, the number of Internet accesses from South Africa skyrocketed. The South African environmentalists now know that there was and is long-term resistance to HTR technology in Germany and that they are not alone in their fight. As the discussion continues and further decisions are pending on the various other aspects of the PBMR, it is currently being examined whether further reports, statements or books about the THTR should be translated from Germany into English. In a citizen application we will approach the city of Hamm so that an official exchange of experiences between Hamm and Cape Town can take place.

Horst Blume

(Sources: "Cape Argus" of July 28, August 25 and 26; "The Star" of June 6 and July 28; "Green Clippings" of July 29; "Netzeitung" of August 22, 2003)

* Chippy Olver was a former prominent activist in the End Consription Campaign (ECC)

1982: ANC attack on Koeberg nuclear power plant

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In Koeberg there are already two pressurized water reactors on the Atlantic, each with an output of 922 MW. It is the only nuclear power plant in Africa. In 1982 the ANC was able to delay commissioning by carrying out two acts of sabotage on July 18 and December 7, a few days before the loading of the fuel rods. He did this because he wanted to prevent the white racist regime from expanding its military and economic position of power in southern Africa with the help of the plutonium produced there. Today the ANC, as the ruling party, supports the construction of the new reactor line right next to the two old reactor blocks.

(Source: "information service southern Africa" ​​No .: 3/1983)

The development of the PBMR in South Africa over the past year

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The following text from "Nuclear Monitor" (WISE-Amsterdam) No. 582 from January 31.1st 2003 highlights the development of the PBMR in the last year:

On January 15, 2000, the South African machine works Murray and Roberts in a joint venture with the US company Stone + Webster and supported by the company Proman Management Services was offered a contract to supply the PBMR. Murray and Roberts were responsible for the basic design and feasibility study of a nuclear fuel facility for the PBMR to be built in Pelimdaba, North West Province.

After completing the controversial environmental impact assessment for the PBMR, Angela Andrews and Adrian Pole of the Legal Resources Center produced a 150-page legal analysis on behalf of the local activist group Earthlife Africa, which included expert statements from recognized scientists and government officials. In the meantime, the allotted time for public comments had ended.

The environmental impact assessment has been circulated for comment in the following affected provinces: western Capeland (Cape Town), Kwazulu-Natal (Durban), Gauteng (Johannesburg) and the north-west (Pelindaba), which is being considered for the construction of the pilot reactor. The demonstration reactor should be in Cape Town. Durban is intended as a location for the import of enriched uranium. Gauteng will be on the north-western border as the construction site for the fuel reprocessing plant to be operated by the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (NECSA).

Strangely enough, any criticism about nuclear waste was left out of the public debate. The national energy authority will deal with this in the distant future - even though Koeberg continues to store its highly radioactive waste itself. The medium and low level radioactive waste facilities of the Northern Cape Vaalputs will continue to be managed by NECSA (...)

On December 3, 2002, the PBMR spokesman was quoted as saying, "Our investors must give their consent for the next phase of the project to begin. The DFS has been completed and the funding plan has been finalized for investors to review We also need a written report from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (DEAT) on the environmental impact assessment, which our consultants applied for at the end of October. " (...)

For the week ending January 31, 2003, all eyes were on Western Cape Province, which has been proposed as the site for the PBMR. While Prime Minister Marthinus von Schalkwyk from the former National Party of the apartheid government in the province supported the development in every way, the officials of the city administration in Cape Town (with around 3 million inhabitants) were not so sure.

"A round thing"??

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Unfortunately, an article with the above heading from the FAZ supplement from April 02.04.2003nd, XNUMX reached us only now. We partially document:

Joy in South Africa: The pebble bed module reactor (PBMR) has made great strides. Because recently a test facility (a microturbine model) for energy conversion according to the PBMR concept was successfully put into operation. It is the world's first multistage gas turbine with a closed circuit.

The South African energy company ESKOM has been researching pebble bed reactors since 1993. ESKOM is reviving a technology that has been known for around 40 years, but has hardly been further developed so far. ESKOM was able to win the Industrial Development Corporation and British Nuclear Fuels as partners. The American utility company Exelon was also involved as an investor, but withdrew from the project last year. Talks are now under way about further investments.

The test facility was developed and built at the engineering department at Potchefstroom University in South Africa in collaboration with the pebble bed reactor project team. According to Professor Gideon Greyvenstein, Dean of the Faculty, the successful commissioning of the system shows that the configurations of the unit for energy conversion that have now been selected are stable and reliable. (...) The system is a functionally accurate replica of the future PBMR power plant. (...) The construction of a 125 megawatt pebble bed module prototype near Koeberg near Cape Town, where the only nuclear power plant in Africa is located, is planned for the future. Connected to this is a fuel production facility near Pelindaba near Pretoria, where fuels for Koeberg have previously been produced.

This concept makes it possible to add further modules later depending on the power requirement. Provided there is enough cooling water, the reactor can be started up at almost any location. An even more free choice of location enables dry cooling - but this would increase costs.

The concept of pebble bed module reactors envisages small units of 165 megawatts each for commercial use. The pebble bed reactor must be configured in such a way that it consists of various small power plants that can be bundled in twos, four or eight in order to make maximum use of auxiliary and ancillary systems. (...)

The South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (NECSA), which has signed a contract with PBMR (Pty) Ltd to expand fuel manufacturing, is making good progress in developing the sophisticated manufacturing technology for the spherical fuel elements. It was only recently that uranium was coated for the first time in the fuel laboratory. PBMR fuel is based on a proven German fuel design (!?), Which consists of particles of weakly enriched, triple-coated uranium cores that are embedded in a graphite matrix. A single coated particle of uranium dioxide is encased four times. (...)

Gorleben: The Castor comes in the 2nd week of November

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On September 4th, 14 activists of the citizens' initiative occupied the repository mine in Gorleben and pointed out the next planned Castor transport. The opponents of nuclear power had entered the shaft as an official group of visitors and did not leave it until 21 p.m. Around 100 other environmentalists protested at the entrance to the mine throughout the day. In the second week of November, twelve containers with highly radioactive nuclear waste will again roll from La Hague to Gorleben. In the planning for autumn this time, it also plays a role that there may be three transports to Gorleben within twelve months. Since 2004, in addition to the twelve containers from France per year, six from Sellafield will also roll into Wendland. The police's strategy is designed to wear down the resistance so that significantly fewer officers will have to be deployed for protection during the next year's transports at the latest. Because if that doesn't happen, you will have a huge personnel problem next year.

The Wendlanders are already preparing an open plan of action so that all those willing to resist can take part on Day X. However, they try to integrate the "last-minute resistance" of many people, which has so far often been observed, into their concept in good time. Further information can be obtained from:

www.x1000malquer.de

www.grassroots.net

November 01.11.2003st, XNUMX: Large demonstration against social robbery in Berlin

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It no longer makes sense To make songs

instead of those responsible to cut down.

- Georg Kreisler -

As soon as you watch the evening news on television, a veritable flood of reports descends on us, how politicians practically outdo each other in using the red pencil in all areas of social life, curtailing hard-won modest rights of workers and as the height of insolence they also want to lower the so-called unemployment benefit II to 345 or 331 euros.

I am gripped by a cold anger how the media mob uses certain exceptional phenomena such as welfare recipients abroad to organize an unrestrained hunt for the last defenders of the "welfare state". It is also annoying that there is currently no massive resistance to social robbery. The general attack on the social security systems is currently taking place at almost all levels and in all areas, so that obviously many people have felt a feeling of paralysis and being at the mercy of the people. Clearly visible signs of resistance have become rare and are rarely shown or deliberately defamed in the media.

When now finally numerous unemployment initiatives, some leftists from the DGB base, ATTAC and others have managed to hold regional days of action on October 20th and a nationwide demonstration in Berlin on November 1st, this is an urgently needed signal of departure! While the more timid doubts still prevail, because part of the DGB apparatus will probably not participate in the mobilization, the others know that we have no other choice anyway than to finally become active ourselves.

Horst Blume


Dear readers!

On Friday, October 10.10.2003th, XNUMX, an event by the Böllstiftung NRW with a delegation of energy experts from South Africa will take place in Düsseldorf. Topic: Which energy strategy is South Africa choosing? There is ample opportunity to discuss. Is anyone interested in going with you? Then let me know

horst-blume@thtr-a.de

According to the information in this newsletter, it should be clear that the energy-policy die is far from being cast in South Africa and that there is still a lot for us to do. This also costs money, which is needed, for example, for urgently needed translations of important materials.

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