Uranium Road: Questioning South Africa's Nuclear DirectionProviding rare insights into the history of South Africa's secretive nuclear industry, this book explains how South Africa turned to the development of a nuclear program and weapons of mass destruction as a result of its abundance of uranium--a byproduct of its gold mines. South Africa's current plans to revitalize its nuclear industry are judged against the background of an international nuclear industry that has not been able to solve basic problems of excessive cost, the threat to human health and safety, and long-term environmental contamination. An illustrated explanation of basic nuclear concepts and the nuclear fuel chain makes the history and arguments easy to follow. |
Contents
Foreword | 9 |
Acronyms | 10 |
Vulindaba Let South Africas | 13 |
The nuclear fuel chain | 19 |
South Africa joins the nuclear club | 35 |
Apartheids nuclear bombs | 45 |
Koeberg and the antinuclear response | 51 |
Nuclear waste? Dump it in Namaqualand | 61 |
Demilitarisation and disclosure | 69 |
Yesterdays technology | 81 |
Nuclear renaissance in South Africa | 93 |
No nukes in a democracy | 113 |
Resources | 117 |
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accident activists Advena apartheid apartheid government Armscor Atteridgeville bed modular reactor billion BNFL bomb build Cape Town cent chain reaction Chernobyl civil society contain costs countries decommissioned democratic demonstration model dismantling disposal Earthlife Africa electricity enriched uranium enrichment process Eskom facilities fission fuel fabrication Germany global Gorleben graphite high-level waste HTGCR IAEA impact investment ionising radiation isotopes Koeberg Alert Level Waste mass destruction mining Namaqualand National Nuclear Regulator NECSA neutrons non-proliferation nuclear energy nuclear fuel chain nuclear industry nuclear reactors nuclear scientists nuclear waste nuclear weapons operation PBMR Pebble Bed Modular pebble bed reactor Pelindaba plans plutonium power stations Pretoria problems produced proliferation PWRS radioactive waste regulatory releases renewable energy reprocessing risk SAFARI-1 safety South Africa South African nuclear spent fuel storage Treaty United Vaalputs Valindaba Vorster water reactors weapons of mass weapons programme Western Cape Y-Plant