The Department of Minerals Resources and Energy (DMRE) has briefed Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources and Energy about the agreement on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy that the country has with the European Atomic Energy Community (better known as Euratom, which is an agency of the European Union). This agreement was originally signed in 2013 and finally approved by the South African Cabinet in 2018.
The function of the agreement was to widen and deepen economic, scientific and technical cooperation between the two parties, for mutual benefit. It covered nuclear research and development, nuclear safeguards, the transfer of nuclear equipment and materials, nuclear medical applications and the use of nuclear materials and technologies in, for example, agriculture.
Following the briefing, the committee unanimously agreed to ask the DMRE to “revise its input” (in the words of the committee’s statement), because of “new developments” since the agreement was signed and approved. The committee did not specify what these new developments were.
“We do not require the department to revise the agreement, but rather develop a comprehensive and up-to-date input,” explained committee chairperson Sahlulele Luzipo. The DMRE should consider “circumstances” that could overlap the agreement, as well as the role that would be played in it by “entities”.
Meanwhile, the committee would seek legal advance regarding the agreement. Once it had received both the legal advice and the revised input from the DMRE, the committee would deliberate on the issue. It would then present its recommendations to the National Assembly and state whether it supported the agreement or not.