The Department of Environmental Affairs in South Africa has granted permission for public utility Eskom to build a new nuclear power plant that would be built in close proximity to the existing nuclear plant at Koeberg.
Eskom Chief Nuclear Officer Dave Nicholls in a statement said that Thyspunt and Duynefontein, adjacent to Koeberg, were both being considered equally, although Business Day reported that Thyspunt had been Eskom's preferred option.
The Duynefontein site, however, was the one selected.
"While we had worked on Thyspunt being the preferred site according to the final environmental impact report compiled by an independent environmental practitioner GIBB, we have always considered both sites (Duynefontein and Thyspunt) equally capable of hosting a nuclear power plant," Nicholls said in a statement.