Latest news with #R9bn
The Citizen
5 days ago
- General
- The Citizen
Farmers fret over plans to store spent nuclear fuel in their backyard
Vaalputs to be upgraded for high-grade nuclear waste storage. When Dawie Burden, a livestock farmer from the Kamiesberg in the Northern Cape, went to open his gate the other morning, he found a notice stuck to it with the heading: 'Environmental Impact Assessment Process'. It was from an environmental consultant informing stakeholders of a study related to plans to store spent nuclear fuel at the government's Vaalputs storage facility, located about 10 km from his farm. This came as a confirmation of plans that he and his neighbours had only read about in the media. Vaalputs has been in existence since the 1980s but to date, only low- and intermediate level nuclear waste has been disposed of at the site, says Dave Nicholls, chairman of the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa). Since 1985, nearly all the nuclear waste from Koeberg – including old fuel racks and protective clothing used at the plant – as well as similar waste from Necsa's Safari research reactor at Pelindaba, has been disposed at the site in steel and concrete drums. ALSO READ: Ramokgopa wants to expand South Africa's nuclear programme This constitutes low-level nuclear waste. Intermediate-level waste includes, for example, filters and resin, which are cast into concrete drums. These are transported by road, via the R355 between Calvinia and Springbok, to be placed in a trench at Vaalputs and later covered with clay. The area is very remote, with limited cellphone reception and the condition of the road leaves much to be desired, says Burden, who speaks on behalf of the Kliprand Agricultural Association – one of five such associations in the area. Nonetheless, government's minimal communication over the last 40 years has only been with one of the other associations, says Burden. 'They sometimes hold meetings, but these are held in communities and all that is discussed are bursaries for students and job opportunities. Our safety concerns are not addressed,' says Burden. ALSO READ: Ramokgopa wants an 'idiot's guide' on nuclear to be created for South Africans 'The emergency plan for transporting the waste relies on calling for help if a truck carrying the nuclear waste is involved in an accident due to the poor road conditions.' But, what if there is no signal? It is one thing when only low- and intermediate level waste is being transported, but spent nuclear fuel? Nicholls explains that the waste currently disposed of at Vaalputs has a half-life of 30 years. This means the risk of radiation from contact with the material will be reduced by half in 30 years. To be completely harmless, it will take ten times that long – about 300 years. The spent fuel is a different matter. 'They glow when they are removed,' says Nicholls. This type of waste decays rapidly in the first ten years, but it will take more than 100 000 years to return to the same level of radiation found in uranium in its natural form, he explains. ALSO READ: Will R9bn nuclear reactors lower SA's energy costs? 'Interim' measures Until about five years ago, the spent fuel at Koeberg was stored in a specially designed pool on site. The volume is relatively small. 'If you stack all the spent fuel that has been used at Koeberg alongside each other, it would not be the size of a tennis court,' says Nicholls. About five years ago, Eskom began removing the oldest spent fuel and is now storing it in steel cannisters, 5 metres long and a few metres wide, on site. However, government has decided to store the high-level nuclear waste from Koeberg – and potentially from any other nuclear plants that may be built in South Africa – at a central interim storage facility to be constructed at Vaalputs. It remains interim because, sometime between 50 and 200 years from now, it will be moved to a final disposal site several hundred meters underground. 'It is essentially a mine,' says Nicholls. All of this is strictly regulated by the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the measures followed to safely store nuclear waste are the same all over the world, says Nicholls. Currently, the licence issued by the South African National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) permits only the disposal of low- and intermediate waste at Vaalputs. Until recently, Necsa was the licensee, but earlier this month, the management of the nuclear waste was transferred to a specially created entity, the National Radioactive Waste Disposal Institute (NRWDI). The NRWDI will only be allowed to store high-level waste at Vaalputs once it has satisfied the NNR that it complies with all the requirements to do it safely. This is why it has now embarked on the environmental impact study that Burden has been notified of. Nicholls explains that the interim disposal will involve the construction of a huge concrete slab, upon which the steel cannisters will be stacked at ground level. Burden recognises it is unlikely that the farmers' concerns will result in the government changing its intention to store the spent nuclear fuel at Vaalputs. All they are asking for is transparency, good governance, and monitoring. 'The ecosystem in Namaqualand is very sensitive, with unique biodiversity,' he says. He estimates that there are more than 200 farms in a 50km radius around Vaalputs. These produce livestock – cattle, sheep and goats. About 20% are slaughtered locally, and the rest at abattoirs further away in the Western Cape, and from there distributed by retailers across the country. 'The likelihood of radiation may be low, but the impact can be huge,' says Burden. Farmers are concerned that even the slightest suspicion of something going wrong at Vaalputs could damage the image of the products they send to the market. This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
IOL News
01-08-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Treasury sets the stage for infrastructure overhaul with R1. 8bn credit guarantee vehicle
Deputy Minister of Finance David Masondo said on Thursday that the government has committed to injecting an initial R1.8 billion into a newly established Credit Guarantee Vehicle, with plans to escalate the total investment to R9bn if needed. Image: Supplied The National Treasury has taken a step towards addressing South Africa's staggering infrastructure gap, which is projected to reach around R3.5 trillion to R4trln by 2025. Deputy Minister of Finance David Masondo said on Thursday that the government has committed to injecting an initial R1.8 billion into a newly established Credit Guarantee Vehicle, with plans to escalate the total investment to R9bn if needed. Speaking at the launch of the pre-qualification process for Independent Transmission Projects (ITP), Masondo highlighted the urgency of the situation. He noted that at least 32 development partners have expressed interest in investing in the new scheme, which aims to rally private capital to bridge the nation's infrastructure financing gap. "Formal engagements with participating partners are continuing and will lead to the delivery of conditional equity participation commitment letters in the third quarter of 2025," Masondo said. "This will enable the Credit Guarantee Vehicle to be operationalized by July 2026 to align with the first phase of ITP projects." He said the infrastructure gap called for scaling up of public financing as well as crowding in private capital through public-private partnerships (PPP). "The objective of the Credit Guarantee Vehicle is to mobilize and leverage private capital to address South Africa's infrastructure financing gap by mitigating offtake risk for private investors," Masondo said. "This vehicle will also support the efficient deployment of development partner funding under the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) and the achievement of the country's decarbonisation commitments." Masondo said while the Credit Guarantee Vehicle will focus on the initial phase of enabling investments in transmission infrastructure, it will be expanded into other areas such as logistics and water over time. "The vehicle will be incorporated as a private company in South Africa, regulated by the Prudential Authority. It will operate as a standalone entity with an independent balance sheet and will target a minimum credit rating of AAA," he said. "A professional executive management team and board of directors with relevant experience and expertise will be appointed to operate and manage the fund. The Credit Guarantee Vehicle will issue a combination of payment and termination guarantees to a Special Purpose Vehicle established for the project." Speaking at the same occasion, Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientso Ramokgopa said the proposed amendments to the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2019 anticipate the onboarding of more than 30GW of renewable energy by 2030 and approximately 56GW of new connections by 2035. "That's an aggressive programme. For that to happen you really need the transmission infrastructure to be in place," he said. "Major players in the renewable space will tell you 53GW of private sector sponsored projects that are waiting for this connection are at various stages, but its just an indicator of the insatiable appetite that exists in the private sector." In this context, he discussed the initial phase, which encompasses 1 164 kilometers with a capacity of about 2 600 MVA, projecting that unlocked renewables could produce an impressive 3 322 megawatts. He acknowledged that Eskom had historically delivered around 350km per annum, but stressed the necessity to scale up infrastructure development. "It's about the maturity and readiness of local industry because we have not done a significant build programme over a continuous uninterrupted period. We have undermined the capacity of industry to respond to opportunities of this scale," Ramokgopa said. "That is an immediate risk that's facing us that's why we will be engaging with the industry to see how best they are ready and of course build up that capacity over time." BUSINESS REPORT
TimesLIVE
10-06-2025
- Business
- TimesLIVE
Omnia declares special dividend as mining business shores up profits
Chemicals company Omnia Holdings on Monday declared a special dividend for the second year running after its growing explosives business helped offset the impact of bad weather and economic turbulence on its African agriculture business. Omnia reported headline earnings per share — a key profit measure — of R7.04 in the year ended March 31, compared with R6.99 the previous year. The company, which supplies fertilisers and soil additives to countries in Africa and abroad, also manufactures explosives used in the mining industry. Omnia's mining division reported a 10% increase in revenue to R9bn, helping to offset a 2% revenue decline in the agriculture business, which was affected by challenging operating conditions in Africa. Currency volatility in Zimbabwe, logistical disruptions in Mozambique due to political unrest and the impact of a severe drought in Zambia had affected Omnia's income, CEO Seelan Gobalsamy said in an interview. However, increased demand for uranium, copper and other metals vital for the global shift to renewable energy are driving demand for mining consumables and boosting income for Omnia's explosives business. Omnia was seeing strong demand for mine explosives in Namibia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, while its Indonesian joint venture also continues to grow, Gobalsamy said. 'Our mining profits are now higher than our agriculture profit,' Gobalsamy said. 'We all know Omnia for fertiliser, but mining is now bigger than our agriculture business.' Omnia declared an ordinary dividend of R4 per share and a special dividend of R2.75 per share, returning R1.1bn to shareholders. Last year the company paid out a special dividend of R3.25 per share.
TimesLIVE
24-04-2025
- Business
- TimesLIVE
IEJ welcomes government's decision to reverse 'regressive' VAT hike
The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) has welcomed the decision to reverse the VAT hike, which it says is a regressive tax that would have disproportionately harmed the poor, low-income workers and the struggling middle class. 'We caution that this reversal should not open the door for budget cuts as appears to be the National Treasury's preference.' It said while begrudgingly conceding on the issue of the VAT hike, the National Treasury and finance minister Enoch Godongwana appeared to double down on their ideological rejection of progressive revenue alternatives. 'This flies in the face of evidence presented in parliament by the IEJ and other civil society organisations, as well as by political parties, which show that many alternatives are readily available.' The IEJ said the 0.5 percentage point VAT increase, at best, would have secured R13.5bn in revenue, which was a tiny 0.5% of the national budget. 'It has recently emerged that the revenue overrun collected by Sars (of about R9bn) alone, without further revenue or budget cuts, largely fills this hole. 'It also highlights the failure by the National Treasury to find innovative ways to raise revenue that can immediately unlock resources to further finance essential services and expand public investment,' the IEJ said. The organisation said there were a number of immediate sources of revenue. These included: ● Tapping into the Gold and Foreign Exchange Reserve Account (GFECRA), which still has over R300bn available to the government; ● Removing tax breaks for high-income earners (those earning above R1m per year), such as those linked to pensions or medical aid contributions. The government spent about R51bn on these in 2022/23; and ● Raising the corporate income tax rate back to 28%, as the previous reduction to 27% failed to attract investment. This would have raised an extra R12bn in 2024/25. The IEJ said that over the medium term, other measures, including a wealth tax, social security tax, and financial transactions tax, are available that could generate significant revenue and reduce inequality.
