[ Home ] [ Speeches & statements ]

17 September 2007

President
Director General
Your Excellencies
Distinguished delegates

Allow me, Mr President to add my country's voice in congratulating you for the assumption of your role as President of the General Conference. It is indeed a great honour for my country to be part of this conference on the 50th anniversary of the Agency. The Agency's role in assisting member states is widely recognised and has been beneficial to many countries in achieving self-reliance in various nuclear applications. South Africa is a recipient of the Agency’s support and we have built on it to achieve our own self-reliance on some aspects. In the last 50 years the Agency has worked well to ensure that the use of nuclear energy is only for peaceful purposes and around the world people have realised that nuclear energy can be a part of a solution to combat green house gas emissions and ensure security of energy supply.

Mr President,

I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate the new members to the agency: Bahrain, Burundi, Republic of Congo, Cape Verde and Nepal. It is always encouraging to note that the representation of the African continent to the agency is increasing which demonstrates that the role of nuclear technology on the African continent is growing. Indeed the benefits derived from the Agency's Technical Co-operation programmes bear testimony to the relevance of nuclear applications in solving some of the challenges of developing countries.

Whilst the agency plays an important role in promoting and facilitating co-operation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, it is also the sole internationally recognised authority responsible for verifying that these activities are not diverted for non-peaceful purposes. In this context, the agency continues to monitor the implementation of safeguards agreements and in providing the necessary assurances regarding the compliance of States to these agreements.

With regard to the nuclear programme of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK), South Africa welcomes the positive developments towards finding a lasting solution, including the Initial Actions agreed to during the Six-Party Talks earlier this year. In particular, we welcome the ad hoc monitoring and verification arrangement that is being implemented by the Agency with the co-operation of the DPRK. We, however, remain concerned that the agency is still unable to draw any conclusions regarding the DPRK's nuclear activities. It is our hope that the DPRK will return to the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), eliminate all its nuclear weapons and place all its material and facilities under IAEA Safeguards.

With regard to the implementation of NPT safeguards in the Islamic Republic of Iran, South Africa notes that the agency continues to be able to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran. South Africa is further pleased to note that Iran has been providing the agency with access to declared nuclear material, including providing the required nuclear material accountancy reports in connection with the declared nuclear material and facilities. It is further noteworthy that important progress has been made to resolve some of the outstanding issues regarding Iran’s nuclear programme.

Through the full implementation of the agreed work plan between the Agency and Iran and in accordance with the time lines set out therein, the necessary confidence will be created that could spark the resumption of negotiations between Iran and all concerned parties. This would avoid a confrontation, which no one desires and which would have catastrophic consequences for all.

We believe that the Director General, through his wise and innovative leadership, has placed us on a path of resolving in a peaceful way the issues surrounding Iran’s nuclear programme.

Mr President,

South Africa is a proponent of nuclear disarmament and a supporter of a nuclear weapon-free world. There is no doubt that the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is vital to achieve nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation. It still remains the only international instrument that not only seeks to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons, but that also contains the legal commitment for their elimination. In this regard, it represents a historical bargain between the nuclear-weapon States and the non-nuclear-weapon States in terms of which the latter have undertaken not to aspire to nuclear weapons based upon the reciprocal undertaking by the former to eliminate their nuclear weapons. It is obvious that the only absolute guarantee against the use of such weapons is their complete elimination and the assurance that they will never be produced again.

As long as some countries have nuclear weapons, there will be others who will also aspire to possess them. South Africa believes that the continued possession of nuclear weapons, or the retention of the nuclear weapons option by some States, creates the very real danger that they may be used, or fall into the hands of non-State actors.

Mr President,

Turning to the issue of nuclear fuel supply, we need to recognise that the pursuance of energy security is not only a right of all states, but also a global responsibility. But we need to ensure that no unwarranted restrictions are imposed on the right of States to pursue nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Further modalities for preventing the diversion of these sensitive technologies may be required in order to ensure that we can pursue such activities with the necessary assurances. We strongly support a non-discriminatory approach that would assure the supply of nuclear fuel, whilst fully respecting the choices of States and protecting their inalienable right to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, consistent with their non-proliferation obligations.

The South African government supports the development of nuclear energy and recently a Draft Nuclear Energy Policy and Strategy for the Republic of South Africa was approved by Cabinet and released to the public for comment. The Nuclear Energy Policy and Strategy provides a framework in which an extensive nuclear programme can be realised in South Africa. Our policy is driven by issues of security of energy supply and global climate change as well as beneficiation of our strategic mineral resources for the economic development of our country. The resurgence in the use of nuclear energy for electricity production is strong and many countries, including South Africa, have realised the need to diversify their energy mix to ensure security of supply and to maintain their economies.

Mr President,

South Africa is facing an increase in electricity demand and measures are being taken to ensure that there is no shortfall. It has been projected that an additional 40 000 Megawatts of electricity will be required over the next 20 years in South Africa. Currently about 90% of South Africa's electricity is generated from coal and about 6% from nuclear. The South African electricity utility, Eskom is investigating the expansion of the utility’s nuclear power capacity. These investigations are aimed at a potential increase of nuclear capacity to 20 000 Megawatts by 2025. Eskom is in the initial phase of the investigation and is considering advanced Pressurised Water Reactors with a combined capacity of around 3500 Megawatts. Initial processes of acquiring environmental authorisations have commenced and negotiations with vendors are expected to start in earnest in the next six months. A number of sites are currently undergoing qualification. Other authorisations such as applications to obtain a nuclear installation licenses with the South African National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) will follow at a later stage.

The high temperature pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR) technology is under development by PBMR (Pty) Ltd, with the intention to construct a 165 Megawatt electric demonstration nuclear reactor system on the Koeberg site near Cape Town and a Fuel plant at Pelindaba near Pretoria. The process of obtaining the required environmental and nuclear licensing authorisations is in progress. The PBMR technology is not only focused on electricity production but also on process heat applications for industrial applications.

PBMR currently employs over 750 people and has completed five test facilities related to fuel production and reactor auxiliary services, including the fuel handling system.

Mr President,

South Africa will continue to support and participate in IAEA initiatives and activities. South Africa and the IAEA have signed the Country Programme Framework for the period of 2006 to 2010, building on the successful implementation of the first CPF. We are therefore looking forward to continued fruitful cooperation between South Africa and the Agency in the years to come.

South Africa also contributes regularly to the Technical Co-operation programme and South African experts continue to carry out missions in Members States to meet the important needs of those states. The completion and demonstration of the conditioning unit for sealed high activity radioactive sources (SHARS) by the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) in March 2007 was a great success. The unit was designed to remove high activity sources, which are mostly used in the health care industry. The SHARS project is unique in that it represented the development of a mobile hot cell for the first time.

I must also take this opportunity to inform members that in partnership with the Agency, South Africa will be hosting a Regional Conference on Energy and Water for Sustainable Development highlighting the role of nuclear science and technology during the second quarter of 2008. This conference is expected to attract about 200 delegates from 38 African Members States. The conference will focus on how nuclear technology can be a solution to address challenges we are facing in the energy and water sectors. We look forward to the participation of Agency member states in ensuring the success of this important conference.

In terms of nuclear skills development South Africa hosted a number of workshops and training courses. The South African Institute of Welding (SAIW) was nominated by AFRA to establish a Level III training and accreditation capacity in South Africa. Several Member States have undergone training at the SAIW. Another important event was the Post Graduate Educational Course (PGEC) in radiation at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. South Africa is grateful for the IAEA's continued support in building capacity. South Africa also hosted the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize Cancer Fund special event in Cape Town in December 2006.

On the commercial side the Necsa subsidiary NTP Radioisotopes continues to supply a significant portion of the international demand for Molybdenum-99 as well as a range of other nuclear medicine products.

Mr President,

In the previous General Conference, I mentioned that the South African Nuclear Regulator would be engaging their counterparts to consider the establishment of a Regional Regulatory Forum on radiation safety. Since then the IAEA has been requested to assist in the establishment of the forum. South Africa through the NNR hosted an International Workshop on 'a Common Framework for the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management and Disposal' in July 2007. The workshop was well attended with participants from 39 countries.

Mr President,

South Africa is committed to the use of IAEA Safety Standards as a benchmark in the implementation of our regulatory mandate and supports the IAEA initiative related to the rationalisation and harmonisation of the suite of IAEA safety standards. South Africa would like to recommend a greater harmonisation between the requirements related to safety and those related to security as these requirements are interdependent in many cases. With regard to Security, we have in the last year had two visits by the Agency's Nuclear Security division. This included interaction with all state role-players that are involved in monitoring exports and imports and a clear programme aimed at strengthening nuclear security with special emphasis on border control was developed. An illicit trafficking workshop for the region was also hosted by the Agency with a view of further strengthening controls over movement of nuclear material.

Mr President,

I need to encourage the Secretariat to work tirelessly in ensuring that representation of developing countries is improved. South Africa remains committed to encourage our young people to join and participate in the Agency activities. The employment of greater numbers of women on professional posts should continue receiving special attention. In South Africa we have managed to achieve gender parity in the enrolment of students into the nuclear engineering and technology programmes. This should create the necessary pipeline from which we can draw resources in future.

In conclusion, I would like to thank the Agency for its support not only to South Africa but also to other developing countries.

Thank you

Issued by: Department of Minerals and Energy
17 September 2007