African FAITH COMMUNITIES ENVIRONMENT INSTITUTE Liziwe McDaid - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Green Connection - www.thegreenconnection.org.za

Southern African

FAITH COMMUNITIES ENVIRONMENT INSTITUTE

Liziwe McDaid

What legacy are we leaving the grandchildren of South Africa?

Accidents and incidents – Nuclear power stations

1981 Tsuraga 2 Japan More than 100 workers were exposed to doses of up to 155 millirem per day radiation 1993 Cadarache 2 France Spread of contamination to an area not expected by design

2011 Fukushima 5 Japan Reactor shutdown after the 2011 Sendai earthquake and tsunami; failure

• f emergency

cooling caused an explosion

Civilian exposures

• 24 May 1958 — INES Level needed - Chalk River, Ontario, Canada -

Fuel damaged

• Due to inadequate cooling a damaged uranium fuel rod caught fire and was

torn in two as it was being removed from the core at the NRUreactor. The fire was extinguished, but not before radioactive combustion products contaminated the interior of the reactor building and, to a lesser degree, an area surrounding the laboratory site. Approximately 679 people were employed in the clean-up.[4][5] A corporal named Bjarnie Hannibal Paulson who was at the cleanup did not die from his exposure, but developed unusual skin cancers. Paulson had to testify at many hearings before he was awarded compensation for his radiation injuries.[6]

Civilian exposures

• July 16, 1979 – Church Rock, New Mexico – release of radioactive mine tailings
• An earth/clay dike of a United Nuclear Corporation's uranium mill's

settling/evaporating pond failed. The broken dam released 100 million U.S. gallons (380,000 m3) of radioactive liquids and 1,100 short tons (1,000 metric tonnes) of solid wastes, which settled out up to 70 miles (100 km) down the Puerco River[6] and also near a Navajo farming community that uses surface

• waters. The pond was past its planned and licensed life and had been filled two

feet (60 cm) deeper than design, despite evident cracking.

• See also: Church Rock uranium mill spill
• September 29, 1979 – Tritium leak at American Atomics in Tucson, Arizona at the

public school across the street from the plant. $300,000 worth of food was found to be contaminated; the chocolate cake had 56 nCi/L (2,100 Bq/l). By contrast, the EPA safety limit for drinking water is 20 nCi/L (740 Bq/L) based on consumption of two liters per day.[7][8][9][10]

Civilian exposures..

• May 1998 – Recycler Acerinox in Cádiz, Spain, unwittingly melted

scrap metal containing radioactive sources; the radioactive cloud drifted all the way to Switzerland before being detected.[22][36] (See Acerinox accident.)

• 1999 – A road near Mrima Hill, Kenya was rebuilt using local materials

later found to be radioactive. Some workers were exposed to excessive radiation, and many residents of the area were tested for

• exposure. 2,975 metric tons of roadway material were to be dug up to

eliminate the hazard.[38]

Civilian exposures

• May 2013 - A batch of metal-studded belts sold by online retailer ASOS.com were

confiscated and held in a U.S. radioactive storage facility after testing positive for 60Co.[77]

• April 2010 - INES level 4 - A 35-year-old man was hospitalized in New Delhi after

handling radioactive scrap metal. Investigation led to the discovery of an amount

• f scrap metal containing 60Co in the New Delhi industrial district of Mayapuri.

The 35-year-old man later died from his injuries, while six others remained hospitalized.[71][72]

• December 2001 – Three woodcutters in the nation of Georgia found two warm

canisters near their camp and spent the night beside them…… The woodcutters started showing symptoms of radiation sickness within hours, and were subsequently hospitalized with severe radiation burns.[45] The disposal team consisted of 25 men who were restricted to 40 seconds' worth of exposure each while transferring the canisters to lead-lined drums.[46]

On the ground

• Japanese suicide
• Tanzania contamination
• Zambian contamination

Pelindaba workers – 2004 - no resolution – people die before case is solved (15 out of 208)

Money for rehabilitation dependent on new mine going ahead! Navajo Nation to get more than US$ 1 billion in settlement to clean up abandoned uranium mines, radioactive waste – 2014 (35 yrs)

‘Most of my colleagues have died already. Many are sick. I know one of my colleagues died with

• ne lung. Another one was diagnosed with

silicoses and died from brain cancer within six months after leaving Rössing. Another one died a month ago, he had cancer. The other one died of heart attack. Many former workers living in Arandis, Swakopmund and Walvisbay are sick. Why is this happening’?

Is everything under control in South Africa ?

• Need south Africa scrap metal
• Stefan incident pic

Role of nuclear regulator

• What are they supposed to do?
• Safety exercise at Koeberg..

sheltering.

• T

… for ensuring that individuals, society and environment are adequately protected against radiological hazards associated with the use nuclear technology (NNR act)

The International Atomic Energy Agency had found SA deficient in more than 40% of its assessment criteria & a series of reports from the World Association of Nuclear Operators had found the capacity of management staff at Koeberg to be sub-

• ptimal.. Bus Day 20 May 2015

Into the future

UK power plant – Hinkley -

• cost of plant £16 bn - add finance increases 50% to £24 bn
• South Africa - Regulator obliged to consider financial sustainability of

Eskom.. Tariff increases to allow Eskom to recover R7.8bn from people in 2015

• R1 trillion – what price increases?
• If unaffordable .. Then fiscus must pay - R23 bn for Eskom 2015

“you can’t eat electricity” Roshanda Pascoe MYPD

What if I were minister of Finance?

• Eskom maintenance
• Revenue recovery to Eskom
• Finance charges on R1 trillion
• (R500 bn)
• Total bill: R530 bn
• 1.6 million households

electrified off grid, 20 000 hhs with Tesla storage

• 660 water and sanitation

projects

• 1500 schools constructed
• Total bill: R285 bn

Russian framework agreement..

• “Indemnify the Russians from any liability arising from nuclear

accidents during the reactors’ life. The agreement says South Africa is “solely responsible for any damage both within and outside the territory of the Republic of South Africa” (M&G 2015);

But what about the burden of human suffering – who will pay?

• Pelindaba workers legs

"wake up to the foolishness of restarting nuclear power plants, with radiation victims among nuclear power plant workers and residents in their vicinities."

Why we don’t need nuclear

IRP 2010

• Initially it was intended to include a no-nuclear scenario by forcing
• ut the new nuclear fleet.
• However following the modifications of inputs as discussed above

(specifically the learning rates for new technologies and higher nuclear capital costs) the cost-optimal output from the model for the Adjusted Emission scenario does not include any new nuclear capacity

• …..
• To account for the uncertainties associated with the costs of

renewables and fuels, a nuclear fleet of 9,6 GW is included in the IRP;

Thank you

LIZ MCDAID Emails: liziwe@mweb.co.za Skype: liziwesa Making sustainable development a reality The benefits of nuclear power are too few, and the consequences of serious mishap too great, to make it a reliable component of the energy supply the world needs in the decades to come. National Catholic Reporter, March 2011