'Mbeki 100% correct'
2005-04-29 12:02
Johannesburg - President Thabo Mbeki was "100% correct" in denying that the Pelindaba nuclear facility near Pretoria was dumping nuclear waste, the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) said on Friday.
"The President's statement is 100% correct," NNR spokesperson Phil Nkhwashu said.
Mbeki on Thursday rejected as "reckless", "without foundation" and "totally impermissible" Earthlife Africa's allegations that the nuclear facility at Pelindaba had been dumping radioactive waste on the site.
The statements were made by the NGO in order to promote its own interests, Mbeki said.
The site is about 10km from the Atteridgeville and Saulsville townships and their surrounding squatter camps, which are home to more than one million people.
Nkhwashu said the "waste" identified by Earthlife Africa were in fact a number of "concrete calibration pads" used for instrument calibration purposes and that no nuclear waste had been dumped.
The NNR would issue a statement later on Friday concerning its investigation into the site.
- SAPA