The Minister of Energy Dikobe Ben Martins has officially launched the National Radioactive Waste Disposal Institute (NRWDI).

The institute is charged with the responsibility of managing radioactive waste disposal on a national basis. It will be responsible for the management and disposal of radioactive wastes and materials that emanate from the use of ionizing radiation at medical facilities, from industrial activities, as well as from any other entity which has to dispose of radioactive waste.

The institute’s establishment follows its promulgation by Parliament in January 2009 in terms of the National Radioactive Waste Disposal Act, Act No 53 of 2008. The launch is a culmination of more than a decade of careful planning and consultation activities by government with the public, stakeholders and interested parties.

In addition to radioactive waste management and disposal, one of the NRWDI’s major activities is to plan, design, construct, operate, manage and monitor any new radioactive waste disposal facilities. According to the Department of Energy (DoE), this is an important step forward for the country because the institute can now make concrete plans for the management, interim storage, and disposal of all the high level waste that is currently temporarily stored at facilities at Koeberg and Pelindaba. At present, all low-level and intermediate-level wastes are disposed of at the Vaalputs National Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility in the Northern Cape, which will now be operated by the NRWDI.

Although intensive on-going research and development has been conducted by many countries, no country has developed and licensed a high-level radioactive waste deep disposal facility. South Africa will continue to research and develop such a facility, to be at the cutting edge of the state-of-the-art international activities, and will collaborate with leading entities worldwide in this effort.

The NRWDI is governed by a board of directors which was approved by Cabinet on 4 December 2013, and which was subsequently appointed by the minister in January 2014.