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Monday, 7 July 2008
The proposed nuclear power station at Thuyspunt, just 12km from Cape St Francis, a wave made famous in the iconic 1960’s surf movie, the Endless Summer poses a real threat to Supertubes, one of the most famous surfing waves in the world and home to the Billabong Pro, one of 12 events on the Association of Surf Professionals (ASP) world tour.
Should the Thuyspunt site be selected by South African utility company Eskom to build a 4000 MW nuclear reactor -- more than twice the size of the existing nuclear plant at Koeberg on the west cost of South Africa -- it will have a negative impact on the seawater, which will be used to cool its condensers and then, returned to the ocean.
This is shocking news for local and international surfers who will not fancy a surf in radioactive waves at one of the best right handers in the world. The influential Supertubes Surfing Foundation, the environmental organization that takes care of the beaches and protects the sensitive sand dunes in Jeffreys Bay has come out strongly against Thuyspunt being selected as a site for a nuclear power plant.
This body has been rehabilitating sand dunes and the Supertubes Park since 1999, when Koffie Jacobs and other members of the JBU Surf Club decided that something had to be done to prevent permanent damage to the delicate ecosystem along the Jeffreys Bay beachfront which was coming under increasing pressure from development.
The Foundation fully supports the Friends of the St Francis Nature Areas (FOSTER), who are dedicated to protecting the vulnerable ecosystems and wetlands that would be destroyed by building a nuclear facility at Thuyspunt.
Ionising radiation from nuclear power plants can be harmful to all life on the planet and the risk of an accident at a nuclear plant so close to the pristine beaches of Jeffreys Bay is unacceptable according to the Supertubes Foundation. ‘We are not satisfied that pumping heated water back into the ocean will have no impact on sea life and water quality in the Jeffreys Bay and St Francis Bay area”, said Tyrone Smith, chairman of the Foundation.
“Furthermore, the large amounts of water that are sucked at high velocity to cool the condensers will capture wildlife from the sea and destroy it. The plant would have some kind of filter system and even large fish would be trapped and killed. There are reports that even crocodiles have been captured and killed at nuclear reactors in the United States. The very real possibility exists that dolphins could be killed at a nuclear plant at Thuyspunt”
The Foundation’s statement is backed up by studies carried out in the United States. The abalone (perlemoen) population near Diablo Canyon in California was nearly obliterated by heated water being returned to the ocean. This has further incensed the local surf communities who have been actively involved to trying to combat perlemoen poaching in Jeffreys Bay.
Entire marine communities could be destroyed which could have a disastrous effect of the fishing industry in the Jeffreys Bay region. The area has, since the 1980’s been a key player in the export of calamari and a major foreign currency earning industry could be at risk.
The South West wind is the predominant winter wind and should an accident occur at the plant, it would take about an hour at an average wind speed of 3 meters per second, for radiation to strike the communities at St. Francis and Jeffreys Bay. There would literally be no time for an evacuation as it would be impossible to warn everybody – the local population would simply be irradiated. The agricultural land would be unusable for thousands of years.
The two pillars of the economy in the greater St Francis area are agriculture and tourism, both of which would be the hardest hit by the building off a nuclear plant at Thuyspunt. Land that is impacted by radiation is unusable for thousands of years and even one accident could have a massive impact.
One of South Africa’ most respected botanists, Professor Richard Cowling said that the dune fynbos in the area is classified as endangered and should be protected. “My understanding is that the establishment of the facility at the designated site will require the removal of huge amounts of dune sediment. Any disturbance of the dunes will play havoc with the complex water flow dynamics in the area.
Dunes are like big sponges. They absorb water and release it and in the case of the Oyster Bay area, to feed the incredible wetland system between the Sand River and Oyster Bay”, said Cowling.
Another concern of the Supertubes Foundation is that tourism would be directly affected. Surfers from around the world still make the pilgrimage to Jeffreys Bay, regarded as the “Mecca of surfing” whilst many other European travelers with significant foreign currency to spend visit the area due to the clean and unspoilt beaches and laid back atmosphere as they follow the sun around the world.
They come from countries that are moving away from nuclear power, like Germany, France and Denmark and will be put off by the proximity of dangerous nuclear facility to these tourist attractions. However, the bulk of visitors to Jeffreys Bay are still the local tourists from inland. Would they risk their safety by spending their summer holidays so close to a nuclear plant that is spewing polluted water back into the ocean they want to swim in?
According to Andy Thuysman, Chairman of the J’Bay Boardriders Club and until recently the head of Jeffreys Bay Tourism, the loss of jobs in the tourism industry could be huge. “We have worked for years to build a sustainable industry in Jeffreys Bay that has created jobs and that could all be lost now” said Thuysman.
“The Bavaainskloof (40 km from Jeffreys Bay) has been declared a world heritage site and the tourism potential from this may never be realized”, he added. “. "The Baviaanskloof (40 km from Jeffreys Bay) has been declared a World Heritage site and the tourism potential from this may never be realized", he added. This is in reference to the planned power lines which will be driven through the wilderness area above the r62; a centre-piece for the Eden-to-Addo project."
The Supertubes Foundation will be manning a stall at the Billabong Pro surf contest and a petition will be available for concerned surfers and others to sign, stating their objections to the proposed nuclear plant at Thuyspunt. Further information about the petition will also be made available at the stall.
MORE: www.savesupertubes.com
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