Monday 18 March 2013

Nuclear alarm raised over R14 billion new Cape city

Concerns over nuclear safety have been raised over a R14 billion plan to develop a new city north of Cape Town.

According to the Cape Times the main objectors included the National Nuclear Regulator, Eskom's Koeberg nuclear power station, and the city's disaster risk management centre.

These parties said the development would be within the 5km to 16km urgent protective action planning zone, and that any emergency evacuation of a large number of residents would fail.

The area is subject to the Koeberg emergency plan, which requires that it should be evacuated within 16 hours in the event of a nuclear accident.

The site is 29km from central Cape Town and outside the urban edge, but the city has asked the provincial government to extend the urban edge to accommodate the "Wescape" development.

The development would be built in the next 10 to 15 years and supply around 200,000 homes.

The newspaper previously reported that the population of the "mini-city" was expected to reach 800,000 by 2036.

- Times Live

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