chernobyl sarcophagusLooks like we're about to get another nuclear reactor whether we like it or not. In fact it seems we're not being asked for our opinion at all.

Public Enterprises Minister, Alec Erwin, told parliament on Monday that the government had approved the construction of a second nuclear power station in the southern part of the country. The decision was apparently made by the Eskom board towards the end of last year.

It has not been dislosed where the reactor will be located, although I'm betting it will be nowhere near Mr Erwin's holiday home.

"One does not reveal where a nuclear power plant is to be built, because we still have to acquire the land, although we might have already done that," he said, nonsensically.

Maya Aberman, campaign co-ordinator at Earthlife Africa Cape Town said "[We] can only assume that either the Minister isn't aware of the provisions of the Constitution and laws governing South Africa, that he considers these provisions irrelevant, or that he is attempting to inspire a false sense of optimism about his and his department's nuclear fantasies."

Earthlife Africa also claimed that the public enterprises department was busy finalising its national nuclear energy strategy, and was at work on a uranium mining and beneficiation strategy, without public input.

[IOL], [News 24]