State-owned Eskom on Tuesday welcomed the Council for Geoscience’s (CGS’s) confirmation that there are no geological, bedrock topography or seismological problems at the proposed Thyspunt nuclear site that could possibly disqualify the area for the construction of a nuclear installation.

In November, a report by Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University professor and Africa Earth Observatory Network director Maarten de Wit threatened to derail the utility’s plans to expand nuclear power generation, when he noted that canyons in the bedrock would need to be secured.

The Thyspunt site is situated near Port Elizabeth in the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality, on the Indian Ocean coastline, which De Wit said could be at risk of surge storms and tsunamis.

However, Eskom said it comprehensively studied these risks through extensive data collection designed to estimate regional uplift and deformation rates, earthquake potential, geological faults, marine terrace, fault corridor studies and trenching.

These studies led to the recovery of numerous rock samples that were dated using a variety of techniques and, according to Eskom, provided conclusive evidence that allowed five faults, including Baviaanskloof, eastern Coega, western Coega, Kouga and Cape St Francis, to be definitively classified as nonseismogenic.

The CGS said it had undertaken a number of geoscientific investigations over the past two decades to assess the suitability of several coastal localities for the development of critical infrastructure, such as nuclear power plants. This research encompassed seismic monitoring, geological mapping and specialised, neotectonic studies to assess hazards of a geological nature.

“Based on the extensive geoscientific database established for the Thyspunt locality and surrounding region, as well as a significant body of research undertaken to date, we are confident that the site geology is well understood and that all potential major geological hazards have been identified and considered,” said the CGS.