CHAIRPERSON’S STATEMENT
The National Radioactive Waste Disposal Institute (NRWDI) is an independent State-Owned Entity established in terms of section 3 of the National Radioactive Waste Disposal Institute Act (Act 53 of 2008).The overarching mandate of NRWDI is to provide sustainable and technically feasible solutions for the long-term management and disposal of all radioactive waste classes on a national basis. The key objective of this mandate is to protect people and the environment as well as to avoid imposing an undue burden on future generations, and to devise and implement viable solutions for the safe management and disposal of radioactive waste.
The role of NRWDI will become increasingly crucial as the country embraces the importance of clean energy sources and continues to include nuclear power in the energy mix of South Africa. It is imperative that NRWDI plans effectively so that it meets the requirements of its mandate as informed and aligned to the current and future needs of the country’s radioactive waste generators. This would include expanding the Vaalputs national radioactive waste disposal facility to accommodate the storage and disposal of long-lived and high- level radioactive wastes in addition to the short-lived low-level operational wastes currently being disposed of at the facility.
For the past six years, NRWDI has been operating on a limited budget allocation which poses a risk to its long- term sustainability. A bill for establishing a Radioactive Waste Management Fund by statute has been formulated and is currently underway to being promulgated. The Fund will finance the activities of NRWDI and thereby create a reliable income stream for NRWDI in terms of the “polluter pays principle”, where the waste generators pay levies for the disposal of their radioactive waste.
The role of NRWDI will become increasingly crucial as the country embraces the importance of clean energy sources and continues to include nuclear power in the energy mix of South Africa. It is imperative that NRWDI plans effectively so that it meets the requirements of its mandate as informed and aligned to the current and future needs of the country’s radioactive waste generators. This would include expanding the Vaalputs national radioactive waste disposal facility to accommodate the storage and disposal of long-lived and high- level radioactive wastes in addition to the short-lived low-level operational wastes currently being disposed of at the facility.
For the past six years, NRWDI has been operating on a limited budget allocation which poses a risk to its long- term sustainability. A bill for establishing a Radioactive Waste Management Fund by statute has been formulated and is currently underway to being promulgated. The Fund will finance the activities of NRWDI and thereby create a reliable income stream for NRWDI in terms of the “polluter pays principle”, where the waste generators pay levies for the disposal of their radioactive waste.