Day: June 30, 2022

Forty-one participants from 14 African countries are meeting this week in Pretoria, South Africa at the School of Nuclear Energy Management (NEM) to learn more about every aspect of nuclear power production, from energy planning and nuclear law to safety, security and radioactive waste management. The two-week training course — the third of its kind in Africa — opened on 20 June, with the support of IAEA experts, guest lecturers and contributors from the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (NECSA), the Department of Mineral Resources (DMRE) and the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR).

“As the third NEM School hosted in Africa, the School has continued to grow in stature and in attendance,” said Katse Maphoto, Deputy Director General of Nuclear Energy Regulation at the DMRE. “This is testament to the fact that Africa remains a key destination for the expansion of nuclear applications and for training in nuclear technologies.”

Governments across Africa are devising development policies to reliably meet the growing energy demands of their populations, while simultaneously reducing carbon emissions and mitigating the effects of climate change. For these African countries and other industrializing nations in need of clean and cost-effective energy, nuclear is an increasingly attractive option.

“The NEM School will help to ensure that Africa has capable leaders in the nuclear sphere,” said NECSA Group CEO Loyiso Tyabashe. “These are leaders who will run successful nuclear power programmes and who will advocate for the role of nuclear technology in their national energy mixes.”

Implemented in both national and regional formats, the IAEA’s Schools of Nuclear Energy Management leverage the Agency’s international perspective and technical expertise to deliver targeted training across all dimensions of nuclear power generation. Graduates are expected to bolster the nuclear workforce of their respective countries with new technical and managerial skills.

This year’s School in South Africa benefitted from support, coordination and input from South Africa’s National Radioactive Waste Disposal Institute (NRWDI), North West University and from ESKOM, the country’s electricity public utility and the largest producer of electricity in Africa.

The IAEA offers a suite of support services related to nuclear power production, helping countries with existing power programmes to sustain and expand the skills of their nuclear workforce, and providing expert guidance to newcomer countries to assess and plan for the construction of their first reactors.

“The School is among the key support services offered to Member States by the IAEA,” said Senior IAEA Knowledge Management Specialist Ian Gordon, who also serves as the Scientific Secretary of the School. “The students are very well-qualified and diligent and their passion for the subject really shows through.”

Capacity building is a critical component of IAEA technical cooperation projects, implemented through an intergovernmental Agreement — the AFRA Agreement — for the sustainable operation of nuclear power programmes. Lerato Makgae, National Liaison Officer of South Africa to the IAEA, described how the skills developed through the School are transferable to sectors beyond power production. “The potential of nuclear science in Africa becomes even more apparent when the scope of development is widened to include human capital—particularly in fields such as energy, healthcare, food security and agriculture, which are priorities in the region,” she said.

The NEM School focuses on the managerial and technical competencies that are required to support and sustain national nuclear energy strategies. It targets young professionals in countries which plan to develop, or are in the process of embarking on, a nuclear power programme. Participants must first complete an online course on the IAEA’s Cyber Learning Platform for Network Education and Training (CLP4Net) platform before taking part in the school in person.

Charting Africa’s Energy Future with Integrated Work Plans

Participants at the NEM include staff from regulatory bodies in Kenya which — like other countries in the region, including Nigeria — has announced their intentions to pursue nuclear power to meet growing national energy demand. Both Kenya and Nigeria are following the IAEA’s Milestones Approach, and are working with the IAEA within the framework of Integrated Work Plans (IWPs).

“Nigeria is currently in Phase 2 of the Milestones process. Having completed our site selection, we are now in the process of carrying out feasibility studies on the three power production technologies being considered,” said Professor Abdullahi Mati, Director of Nuclear Power Plant Development at the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission.

Kenya is also in the second phase of the Milestones Approach and has correspondingly established its national nuclear regulator; identified preferred and alternate plant sites, and is presently focussing on the development of its nuclear workforce by participating in Nuclear Energy Management Schools and other IAEA-organized training events.

“Kenya is pursuing nuclear power to ensure energy security and energy diversity well into the future,” explained Chesire Edwin, Kenya’s National Liaison Officer (NLO), who helped to nominate and register three Kenyan participants for the ongoing NEM School.

“The role of nuclear power in climate change is at the top of our agenda and it’s expected that Kenya's nuclear power programme will be a game-changer in achieving our development priorities.”

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency

Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele says although government initiated interventions to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, many lessons can be learnt and gaps covered in order to improve the State’s disaster management capabilities.

The Minister was speaking during the launch of the South Africa COVID-19 Country Report, which records measures and interventions adopted by the country to combat COVID-19 and its negative socio-economic impacts.

“It is important that we pick up lessons from our collective experiences to improve things going forward. It is through learning that we can sharpen our focus in enhancing the capability of the State to deal with outbreaks and other forms of disaster,” he said.

The first edition report references the time period during South Africa’s experience of the first and second waves of COVID-19 infections.

A second edition is expected to be released which will detail an extended period following those two waves and some of the outcomes of government’s interventions.

Gungubele said the value of the report was “derived during the research process” which gave government concurrent analysis on the COVID-19 situation and allowed the state to respond more efficiently.

“As the research and analysis proceeded, various actors improved their understanding of the pandemic and in the same way, lessons were being drawn – feeding into relevant decision making processes and helping to improve [government’s] response measures,” he said.

The Minister said some recommendations in the report have already been implemented including those relating to social relief assistance, vaccinations, government regulations and the economy.

“There are numerous lessons on what worked well and what has not worked well to do and specific recommendations on what to do. To date, important steps taken include the announcement of the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan… which signalled a shift in the focus of government towards stabilisation and recovery.

“The extension of the social assistance programme has been effected through the Social Relief of Distress Grant until 2023,” Gungubele said.

COVID-19 impact

The Minister reflected on the impact that the outbreak of COVID-19 had on South Africans during the early onset of the pandemic – calling it a “health crisis”, which had major social and economic implications.

“The complex nature of the pandemic required a multi-pronged, multi-sector approach and accordingly, South Africa’s response was comprehensive and visibly led by the president and the minister of health. [The] overall response emphasised saving lives and saving livelihoods,” he said.

He said government took steps to ensure that the most vulnerable in society were given some form of protection against the pandemic's effects.

“We could see that people living in low income groups, those in informal settlements, larger families, those dependent on the informal sector, women, children and the homeless were likely to be more vulnerable to the ravages of the pandemic. Appropriate safety nets were put in place to mitigate the negative impacts of the pandemic especially on the most vulnerable,” he said.

Gungubele acknowledged that the pandemic also brought into sharp focus the inequalities that exist in society.

“Amongst those, the unevenness in the state of readiness and capacity of the various disaster management centres in various parts of the country became apparent. The pandemic exposed existing coverage and reliability gaps with respect to basic amenities and special inequality. This highlighted the vulnerability of specific communities to several risks associated with gaps [like]…food, transport, ICT services – especially for online learning platforms for the majority of learners,” he said.

Gungubele also took aim at the fraud, corruption and collusion that took place in government’s COVID-19 procurement.

“The corrupt practices and collusion between different actors undermined confidence and generated widespread public anger. Examples include overpricing of essential items, abuse of emergency procurement, looting of resources [and] diverting of social assistance such as food,” he said.

Gungubele said despite the myriad of challenges, opportunities also became apparent in manufacturing, the use of technology, research and the improvement of government communications.

“Many lessons have been learnt and much can still be explored as we engage in economic recovery process. Greater attention is required in certain areas and some of them require immediate policy responses.

“These include support for small businesses, government’s interface with small business [and] the effectiveness of measures to counter [gender-based violence],” he said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The City of Cape Town’s Know Your Coast 2021 report is now available to the public. The report covers the quality of coastal water at recreational nodes and monitoring points along the Atlantic and False Bay coastlines as determined by applying the National Water Quality Guidelines.

The latest report covers coastal water quality for a 12-month period from 1 December 2020 to 30 November 2021. It reflects the outcome of statistical analysis of 2 400 bacterial sample tests taken from 99 sites along Cape Town’s coastline from Silwerboomstrand on the Atlantic to Kogel Bay on the east side of False Bay, all-in-all a stretch of 307km.

‘This is the third Know Your Coast report issued by the City. The report includes the sampling outcomes of the previous five years – that is from 2017 to 2021 – which is pivotal in understanding the longer term trends in coastal water quality for Cape Town’s beaches.

‘The value of this reporting is that it also allows the City to continuously monitor the impact of pollution on our coastal environment and to measure the success of interventions made in prior years. By following the trends, we can also see where challenges persist and this then guides future interventions to improve water quality,’ said the City’s Deputy Mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, Alderman Eddie Andrews.

Apart from the annual Know Your Coast report, the City also publishes bi-weekly data updates on our web portal for those interested in the latest sampling outcomes.

‘There are multiple sources of coastal pollution. First off, we need to acknowledge that all of us living and working in Cape Town has an impact on our natural environment. Secondly, the City has an important role to play in ensuring that our infrastructure is well maintained and able to cope with our population growth. Thirdly, and importantly, the City cannot prevent or limit pollution on our own. We need partnerships with residents, and behaviour change where residents refrain from littering, illegal dumping in our sewers and stormwater mains, and to not dispose of grey water or any other substances in the stormwater mains. It is a fact that everything that is dumped in our rivers, canals, streams, and stormwater mains eventually finds its way into the sea,’ said Alderman Andrews.

The 2021 report confirms that, overall, there have been no significant changes in coastal water quality in Cape Town between 2020 and 2021. Also, in instances of a ‘poor’ rating, this can mostly be attributed to three or fewer samples or discrete spikes in bacteria counts, as opposed to consistently high counts of bacteria.

Marginal improvements have been noted in some areas, while a number of areas are considered as chronically polluted, such as Lagoon Beach and Three Anchor Bay in the vicinity of the stormwater outlet, Sunrise Beach, Strand Pavillion jetty, and Monwabisi Beach.

The trend and pattern remains constant where stormwater outlets and river mouths remain significant sources of pollution. This confirms that sewer blockages and overflows, illegal discharges, and general urban run-off and waste disposal discharged via the city’s stormwater system and rivers have a significant impact on our coastal environment and coastal water quality.

Wastewater effluent from the City’s Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTWs) has an impact on coastal water quality results in specific areas. The City is addressing this with major upgrades planned, or already under way, at the Zandvliet WWTWs, Potsdam, Mitchells Plain, and Macassar.

Disclosure of coastal water quality results:

• the Know Your Coast, 2021 report is available on the City’s website at http://bit.ly/Coastalwaterquality. The report presents the key findings, as well as interventions in addressing identified challenges

• the City is publishing updated information on coastal water quality, which now includes the latest raw data results on our web portal every second week. Residents and visitors can access the web portal at http://bit.ly/Coastalwaterquality

• the City recently added 11 sites to its existing 88 coastal quality sampling points. We are now monitoring 99 points, twice a month. These sites were added to improve our knowledge of coastal water quality and to assist us in addressing problems as and when they arise. The additional sampling points are located at: Three Anchor Bay, Glen Beach, Camps Bay, Noordhoek beach, Fish Hoek beach, Muizenberg at Surfer’s Corner, the Helderberg Marine Protected Area, Strand, and Gordon’s Bay.

In summary, the key findings for 2021 are as follows:

Atlantic coastline:

• The water quality at 20 out of the 28 recreational beaches and tidal pools met the minimum requirement for recreational activities such as swimming and surfing as opposed to 19 beaches in 2020.

• When compared with 2020, the water quality improved at four locations in 2021: at Silverboomstrand Resort, Table View, Rocklands Beach, Camps Bay tidal pool A, and Llandudno Beach.

• The water quality regressed into the ‘poor’ category at three beaches, among which Saunders’ Rocks tidal pool, Bakoven Beach and Long Beach, Kommetjie.

• Notable changes are that Table View has achieved ‘excellent’ status; while the Three Anchor Bay sites have continuously been ‘poor’. The additional sampling point at the north-west side of Three Anchor Bay (further away from the stormwater outlet) has consistently yielded ‘excellent’ results. This highlights the substantial impact that the stormwater outlet has on water quality at Three Anchor Bay.

• Bakoven Beach displays fluctuating results and has regressed to the ‘poor’ category. This is likely attributed to the Beta Road pump station that has failed multiple times during the 2021.

False Bay coastline:

• The water quality at 22 of the 33 recreational beaches and tidal pools met the minimum requirement, as opposed to 15 beaches in 2020.

• When compared with 2020, the water quality improved at nine locations: Boulders Beach, Fish Hoek Beach, Dalebrook tidal pool, Mnandi Beach West, Mnandi Beach East, Macassar Beach, Strand Harmony Park and Bikini Beach.

• Up to 11 recreational beaches were rated ‘poor’. These were Seaforth Beach, Simon’s Town Long Beach, Clovelly, Muizenberg station, Muizenberg Pavilion, Sunrise Beach, Monwabisi Beach, Strand Murray Street, Strand Pavilion jetty, Gordon’s Bay and Gordon’s Bay Milkwood.

• The water quality regressed into the ‘poor’ category at four locations: Seaforth Beach, Simon’s Town Long Beach, Muizenberg Station and Gordon’s Bay.

• While Fish Hoek Beach has yielded an ‘excellent’ result only once in the last four years, it is useful to note that the additional site located in the popular bathing area, adjacent to Galley Restaurant and close to Jager’s Walk, has yielded consistently excellent results since inception and, as such, is rated ‘excellent’. This again highlights the impact of stormwater outlets on coastal water quality as reflected in water quality results at those sample sites located next to such outlets.

• Readings for Muizenberg station and Muizenberg Pavilion were rated ‘poor’. The poor results for these areas are likely attributed to stormwater discharge and sewage spills into Zandvlei, which discharge to the east of these sampling points. Despite poor results at both ends of Muizenberg Beach, a new sampling point (Muizenberg central) located in front of the ablutions/Shark Spotters building is rated ‘good’. This sampling point was chosen as it is a popular recreational area. The Muizenberg area has also undergone extensive sewer infrastructure upgrades in the last 18 months, and the effects should become apparent in the following reporting period.

How to prevent ocean pollution:

The disposal of litter and substances in the stormwater system has a huge impact on our coastal water quality.

In terms of various City bylaws, it is illegal to discharge any substance that may harm the quality of the water in the stormwater system.

We all share the responsibility to prevent pollution from entering our ocean. The coastline is one of our most important socio-economic, cultural and environmental assets, and we need to do everything possible to protect it.

‘It is very difficult to trace the source of pollution in stormwater, so I want to appeal to residents to please inform the City if they are aware of waste dumping or discharging of substances into the stormwater system. In the meantime, the City is managing and investing in its network sewers and wastewater treatment facilities, which serve the population of Cape Town to reduce pollution and minimise the impact of our city and its residents on the environment,’ said Alderman Andrews.

Source: City Of Cape Town