I was invited to present an informal seminar to the Humansdorp Business Forum. It was most successful and I was really impressed to find a turnout of 120 people.
It was an evening function in the Grill and Co restaurant, in the town of Humansdorp. There was a terrific spirit and the gathering went on for a couple of hours after I had finished my presentation.
The topic under discussion was nuclear power, and, specifically, nuclear power as it could impact on their region.
Humansdorp is the centre of a dispersed municipal region in the Eastern Cape, known as Kouga. It includes the coastal town of Jeffreys Bay, St Francis Bay and Oyster Bay. We were provided with accommodation in the world-famous Supertubes boutique hotel, from where one can see super surf ‘tubes’ and the surfers racing down them.
Kouga, which includes the Kouga river, is just south of the Port Elizabeth region. What is important about Kouga is that it includes a coastal site that is a strong contender to be the site of South Africa’s next new nuclear power station.
The site is called Thyspunt. It is named after a small rock spike which sticks out about 50 m into the sea. So far, I have not been able to find out who Thys was – nobody seems to know. I have imagined some lonely fisherman sitting on the rocks day after day, so that the locals knew the favourite fishing spot of Thys.
The Thyspunt site is just under 4 000 ha in area. The area where a nuclear reactor would be built is about 50 ha, and that includes the car park, gardening sheds, and whatever. The actual power station building is much less than 50 ha.
The size of the Thyspunt site is determined by international convention, taking into account safety zone criteria, access roads and suchlike.
The concept of nuclear reactions, and also of a nuclear power system, are shrouded in mystery, as far as the public is concerned. This is an international problem and is not confined to South Africa. Over decades, nuclear professionals around the world have not made a significant effort to communicate with the public. They were happier in their labs, doing the technology things that they liked. In the meantime, antinuclear activists spread scare stories. The result was a spooked public.
I was introduced to the vibey crowd by the chairperson of the forum, Frans van Eeden. The business forum had set up the evening and issued the invitations to its members and other businesspeople. The Nuclear Africa project coordinator had arranged the evening format, refreshments, and so on, together with the Humansdorp people.
I found the crowd to be really attentive and eager to know about the nuclear plans. So I explained how a nuclear reactor operates, and how a nuclear plant operates. I then explained how one goes about building a nuclear power plant. This includes the selection of a site such as Thyspunt. Many people do not realise that work has been carried out on the site for half a dozen years. There has been geological drilling. The geology folks have checked all the rocks and geology of the wider area to understand the type of ground underneath the site.
The meteorology has been studied. The historical rainfall and wind patterns, storm characteristics and much more have all been recorded and studied.
The fauna and flora have been studied. The environmental staff there know all about the birds, plants, insects . . . They have an accurate picture. So, any future changes would be noticed.
We also went into the major business opportunities that would come about if a nuclear plant were to be built there. These range from road building, earthmoving and water provision to the welding and construction of pipe systems, electrical installations, and much more.
The staff flocking to the area would also have to be housed, fed and entertained, so the business opportunity for catering, housing . . . and surfing would be terrific.
Thanks to the Kouga people for a most friendly, intelligent and enthusiastic evening.