Huge protests at Jeffreys Bay against nuclear plant proposals

Residents Jeffreys Bay were joined by international surf community and visitors to the town in a massive display of displeasure with ESKOM’s decision to make Thyspunt the preferred site to build a nuclear power plant. The organiser of the march which took place on Saturday, July 16. Trudy Malan from the Thyspunt Alliance said that the march was held to highlight the flaws in the Impact Studies as well as to oppose the destruction of the squid industry in the region. “2025 people attended the march, signalling to the South African Government as well as ESKOM (the national energy supplier) that we will not just accept the building of a nuclear power station at Thyspunt”, said Malan.



Save Batamsklip increases oppostion

The draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for a nuclear power station at the Bantamsklip site has been released for public comment, with a closing date set for 10 May 2010. Bantamsklip is situated near the Pearly Beach resort, 50 km east of Hermanus. The Save Bantamsklip Campaign and its affiliates and associated organizations are aiming to remove the Bantamsklip site from consideration altogether. Critical of the EIR, the campaign stated in a press release: “The draft EIR suffers from a number of fatal flaws, such as the failure to specify the type of reactor envisaged for the site. How can we determine scientifically and accurately the environmental impact of a nuclear fission reactor when we don’t know what it is? It is rather like ordering a fleet of motor vehicles at an exorbitant cost, knowing absolutely nothing about the brand, its performance, nor its safety features! The campaign urges supporters to redouble efforts for a World Heritage Site status and for the site to be taken away from Eskom and incorporated into the Agulhas National Park.

Save Bantamsklip campaign takes off

BANTAMSKLIP IS A WORLD HERITAGE AND NATURAL WONDER. Eskom and the South African Government, has earmarked Bantamsklip on the Cape Whale Route coast as one of the preferred sites for its nuclear power station roll out. The Save Bantamsklip Association supports and promotes the sustainable use and appropriate  conservation development of the Bantamsklip coast and not for the siting of a nuclear industrial complex. It believes that Bantamsklip, Groot Hagelkraal farm and the Dyer Island Marine Sanctuary to be World Heritage Site status and, as such, should be incorporated into the Agulhas National Park, thus further enhancing its conservation and tourism potential and not used as a nuclear power station site. The SAVE BANTAMSKLIP ASSOCIATION is calling on the public to oppose this ill advised and grossly inappropriate proposal by registering as an Interested and Affected Party (I&AP). Visit www.savebantamsklip.org and become familiar with the Bantamsklip site, the precious ecology of the Agulhas region and follow the resistance to this outrageous proposed development.

A rally in South Africa to stop a new nuclear plant

Residents opposed to the building of a nuclear power station at Bantamsklip on the southern Cape coast staged a protest march through Hermanus on December 19, 2009 and handed a memorandum to the Overstrand municipality, saying the local authority had failed to represent their interests by supporting the proposed nuclear power plant.

Just what India needs - more weapons and reactors

U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, during a visit this week to India, has agreed on a deal that will allow the U.S. to market "sophisticated weaponry" to that country. Building on the deal made under the former Bush administration, Clinton further discussed arrangements for U.S. companies to build nuclear power plants in India. What does a country of 1.2 billion people need with sophisticated weaponry, a space program and cancer-causing nuclear reactors when it is struggling to feed its people and provide clean, safe drinking water? It was bad enough that the Bush administration basically forgave India its nuclear weapons program and avoidance of membership of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Now the Obama administration will aid and abet the further proliferation of nuclear materials and technology in one of the most volatile and dangerous regions of the world, plus sell arms to a country whose resources need to be spent on meeting fundamental human needs.