SA needs nuclear engineering expertise… now
- South Africans must have ownership of nuclear technology.
- Without properly trained people, South Africa will face a major problem with nuclear waste.
- South Africa should not rely on others when it comes to nuclear safety and decommissioning.
South Africa is faced with a question, and the answer should be simple: either the country must train and retain expertise in the field of nuclear engineering, or risk being left behind technologically. With its well-documented energy crisis and the need to grow its economy, infrastructure and service delivery – not to mention the multi-layered issues, obstacles and debates surrounding fossil fuels – the question is evidently rhetorical.
Given that South Africa is a ‘nuclear power’, Professor Vishana Naicker of the Unit for Energy and Technology Systems (UETS) at the North-West University (NWU), believes: “South Africans must have ownership of this technology, at least in terms of safety and decommissioning. This is because the environmental, socio-economic and other impacts of nuclear power in terms of nuclear waste and possible nuclear accidents are significant. South Africa, and Africa, in terms of its sovereignty, cannot afford not to have South African expertise in the operation and maintenance of nuclear reactors. We should not rely on others when it comes to safety and decommissioning.”
There is more. “Of course, there are other benefits of training South Africans and Africans through nuclear engineering, such as localisation and job creation.”
In this regard, the NWU is uniquely positioned to meet South Africa’s diverse nuclear engineering needs. “In South Africa, to my knowledge, there are two institutions which can carry out reactor engineering analysis of nuclear reactor cores: the NWU and the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (NECSA). At the NWU, being an academic institution, we have the advantage of being able to look at research and industrial issues from both an operator and regulatory perspective. We also perform state-of-the-art calculations using international computer codes and publish our findings in accredited journals,” Naicker explains.
The NWU’s expertise is further underscored by its participation in benchmark studies through the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and research projects in collaboration with the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR), NECSA and Eskom (via Koeberg). The NWU’s area of research is computational nuclear engineering analysis.
Naicker also strongly encourages prospective students to consider studying nuclear engineering at the NWU.
“There are two reasons. Firstly, as a career, it is a top-end career. Graduates do get employed in the nuclear industry. However, it is not a big market. If the South African government goes ahead with the planned nuclear build, the nuclear engineering job market will expand. The second reason is that South Africa is a ‘nuclear power’ country. It is important that people are trained to run this industry. Without properly trained people, we will have a big problem with the nuclear waste that we already have, given that we have three reactors that have been running for many decades. With the new reactors that may be built, this need would be even more important.
Looking to the future, Naicker highlights two aspects that are crucial to ensuring that South Africa reaps the many benefits of nuclear power.
“The first is the financing of the nuclear reactors. In this respect, the South African government has to be the main stakeholder, because in the South African context, the costs may be too high for a private enterprise. Secondly, we need to ensure that the reactor is properly licensed. The design has to be a proven design, so that the licensing processes can be based to some extent on previous licensing in other countries. In addition, the regulator must be adequately prepared to carry out the licensing task. At present, the regulator is able to regulate the current fleet of reactors. However, if the new reactors are of a different design, and they most likely will be, the regulator would need to assess its current capabilities and proactively build more capabilities if needed.”
Then there is the issue of the civilian nuclear power industry.
“This industry is often compared to the pharmaceutical and aeronautical industries. Given the necessity of the latter two industries, they will continue to play a major role in today’s global society. These two industries have stringent controls in place, given the risks. The same applies to nuclear energy, with institutions such as the IAEA acting as watchdogs. With global warming and climate change, and the thirst for energy in the world, the world has no choice but to include nuclear power in the energy mix. However, we must ensure that what we do does not put a burden on future generations. This means that we must be sure that the systems that we deploy are engineered to the highest standards, and that we make our decisions based on clear, non-emotional thinking.”