South Durban Community Environmental Alliance
For immediate release
Bringing light to the nuclear energy secrecy
The South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) hosted a Nuclear energy seminar on
the 3rd September 2015 at the Austerville Community Hall at 5pm. Mr. Vladimir Slavyak was the key
speaker. Vladimir is a senior lecturer on Environmental Policy at the Russian National Research
University and is also a part of a Russian organisation called Eco Defence. He has been campaigning
against nuclear energy for 25 years. He is also the author of ‘From Hiroshima to Fukushima’ which
chronicles the 2011 Japanese nuclear catastrophe at Fukushima Daiichi and describes the Russian
nuclear industry's lack of preparedness for similar accidents. He has also written over 300 articles on
environmental and energy issues, which have been published in both the Russian and international
media.
Despite the terrible weather, many south Durban residents were eager to hear about proposed
disastrous nuclear development. Mr Slavyak shared his experience of nuclear reactors in Russia. He
stressed that many countries don’t consider the fact that decommissioning a nuclear plant is as
expensive as building a new one. The companies who are creating these nuclear reactors are not
honest. According to Mr Slavyak “The capacity to build reactors is very limited, they can only make
one a year. They made a deal and 5 years later construction of the nuclear reactor had not started.” In
Bulgeria, the Russian promised to create a reactor for 5 billion RUB, however ended up demanding
10 billion RUB.
There have been too many nuclear accidents that have occurred; some have been kept a secret. The
Chernobyl accident that took place on the 26th April 1986 was first announced as a minor gas leak
however it has been the biggest and worst nuclear disaster to date. He said he measured the
radiation level in the area and found that it was extremely high. He further explained that the reactors
need huge amounts of water to cool down or they could explode. They use the water and discharge it
back to the source from which it is taken, which increases the radiation in the water.
The high level of radiation can cause many health problems such as genetic disorder and cancer.
There is a great lack of knowledge and information regarding radiation and the impact it has on
people and the environment. The amount of radiation in the storage is much more than that of the
reactor. He showed a graph depicting the nuclear share. It showed how many reactors were built
around the world and when they were commissioned.
Unfortunately South Africa wants to create a new reactor that has not been tested. The dangers are
unknown and they are being dishonest about the prices of the reactors. There are many additional
costs which are not included in the decommissioning of the reactor. South Africa will be deeply in debt
if they go ahead with the decommissioning of these nuclear reactors.
Renewable energy is the best solution. Solar will eventually replace nuclear and coal. Nuclear is
being replaced by renewable but nuclear companies want to make money so they are trying to
convince the countries to implement it by saying that ‘we could be like a first world country’. Germany
is one of the most economically advanced countries because they have invested in renewable energy
The floor was opened to everyone for comments and questions. Many members complained that the
lack of youth participation is worrying. The lack of information and secrecy indicates that this
development is not a good one.
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