South Africa says radioactive contamination at nuclear plant was minor

Recent radioactive contamination incidents at Africa’s only nuclear power plant were minor and posed no public danger, officials said on Sunday (July 19, 2026), reaffirming South Africa’s intention to scale up nuclear power generation.

“Airborne radioactive contamination” was detected during scheduled maintenance work at the Koeberg nuclear plant, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of Cape Town, between June 30 and July 16, they told a press briefing.

“The recorded levels were extremely low — less than the radiation exposure from using your cellphone for several minutes,” said Mteto Nyati, chairman of the state-owned energy authority Eskom, which runs Africa’s only operational nuclear plant.

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“All protocols were followed,” he said, with workers undergoing testing that showed minimal exposure. “There was no release into the environment, no risk to the public,” he said.

Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said the incidents were handled efficiently and reinforced confidence in the management of the plant and South Africa’s capacity to move into a new phase of nuclear generation.

“We want to say to the communities around the immediate vicinity of Koeberg that it is safe. We want to say to the rest of the country, we are progressing with the nuclear build programme,” he said.

Koeberg has been in operation for 40 years and was in 2024 granted an extension for another 20 years.

Mr. Ramokgopa said officials wanted to be transparent about the recent incidents to reassure the public as South Africa pushes ahead with plans to procure 5.2 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2042.

South Africa relies on coal for most of its electricity and is seeking other sources of power generation to meet growing requirements.

It is the only country on the continent operating a nuclear power plant.

Another is under construction in Egypt.