South Africa has launched an agency responsible for the effective management and disposal of radioactive waste from nuclear power plants, said a report from Energy Live News.
The agency, National Radioactive Waste Disposal Institute (NRWDI), will be responsible for managing and disposing radioactive waste that spreads from the use of radiation at medical facilities such as hospitals and clinics and from industrial activities such as mining.
This initiative comes in response to South Africa’s National Radioactive Waste Disposal Act of 2008 that mandates that a national agency for dealing with the country’s waste should be established.
The Institute is governed by a Board of Directors which was appointed by the nation’s Energy Minister Dikobe Ben Martins.
Officials at the Department of Energy (DoE) said the institute is also in charge of the legislation to plan, design, construct, operate, manage and monitor any new radioactive waste disposal facilities.
“This is an important step forward for the country, in view of the fact that the Institute may now formally engage in making concrete plans for the management, interim storage and disposal of all the high level wastes that are currently temporarily stored at facilities at Koeberg and Pelindaba,” officials at DoE said.