The management of radioactive waste disposal on a national basis is assigned to the National Radioactive Waste Disposal Institute.
The National Radioactive Waste Disposal Institute (NRWDI) is a state owned entity established in terms of the National Radioactive Waste Disposal Institute Act (53 of 2008) and is responsible for discharging an institutional obligation as defined in Section 1 of the Nuclear Energy Act (46 of 1999), which relates to the disposal and related waste management of radioactive waste on a national basis.
The safe disposal of radioactive waste is the end goal of the total radioactive waste management cycle. The nuclear community needs to build confidence that such waste can be safely disposed in safe, an environmentally acceptable and economical manner. To this end, Vaalputs has been established in 1986 as the national radioactive waste management disposal facility that serves South Africa’s needs for disposing of low level radioactive waste (LLW) generated by the nuclear, industrial, medical and agricultural sectors.
