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News – Finance/ Labour: Cost of pebble bed project ‘beyond R16bn’

Cost of pebble bed project ‘beyond R16bn’ http://www.iol.co.za John Yeld
    December 18 2008 The cost of the controversial Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) project that Eskom wants to build at Koeberg is likely to run well beyond the government’s present estimate of R16-billion – and that’s without taking into account the cost of dealing with the resulting nuclear waste.

So says Kommetjie architect and environmentalist Rod Gurzynski in a scathing critique of the specialist study on the financial aspects of the project…………….Gurzynski said.

“Without being specific, the study prepares the way for significant cost over-runs, which is presumed to be acceptable due to this being a ‘first of a kind’ project.”

He also argued that it was clear from the specialist waste management study that the cost of storing and managing high-level nuclear waste off the site had not been included in the government’s figures.

“And (the figures) cannot be (included) because the long-term options (for high-level nuclear waste storage) have not yet been investigated, let alone proven, and therefore cannot be realistically costed.

“Therefore the conclusion is plain that the cost of long-term high-level radioactive waste management will fall on the future taxpayer.”

News – Finance/ Labour: Cost of pebble bed project ‘beyond R16bn’

Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, radioactive, uranium

December 19, 2008 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs