Earthlife Africa shocked at Department of Environment Affairs Decision.
26 June 2003.

Earthlife Africa is shocked and outraged that the DEAT has approved the PBMR EIA.
“The Department appears to have adopted a cart before horse approach, washing its hands of any responsibility for the critical environmental issues, those of safety and waste”.  said Liz McDaid

An Environmental Impact Assessment is supposed to provide an assessment of the risks and benefits of a proposed project to ensure informed decision-making.

In our view, the EIA process has been totally flawed.  Despite considered opposition from public and environmental groups including opposition from the Cape Town local authority, despite no solution for the spent fuel, despite using consultants who had worked for Eskom for the last 15 years, and despite numerous process and content problems, the government has approved the EIA. This Pontius Pilate attitude of Government to its responsibilities is extremely worrying.

The results of the recent court case early this month showed clearly that Earthlife Africa is respected as an environmental lobby group acting in the public interest.  Earthlife Africa had respected the court’s decision and had already secured a court date of the 9th September to continue the court action.  By approving the PBMR prior to the court case, DEAT appears to be ignoring the legal process, a case of bad manners at the least.

“We are in the process of consulting with our legal advisers but we will certainly will consider taking the decision on appeal and judicial review is not ruled out” stated Liz McDaid.

Earthlife had hoped that the recent news of the long term cost of nuclear power
in the UK, and the multi-billion pound cleanup bill that the government and
ultimately the British people will have to bear, would be enough to convince our
government that nuclear power is uneconomical. Gambling with taxpayers money
on questionable technology in the hope that this time nuclear energy will
not be a complete loss is unacceptable. Funds should rather be channelled
into renewable energy technology and safer, cleaner, long term solutions to
energy in South Africa.