Today in History: South Africa’s first atomic reactor is opened
Nuclear power would be used for peaceful purposes only, with the provision of additional energy as one of its chief aims.
On 5 August 1965, the former Prime Minister of South Africa, Dr HF Verwoerd, opened South Africa’s first atomic reactor, SAFARI-1 (South African Fundamental Atomic Reactor Installation-1) at Pelindaba, about 30 kilometres west of Pretoria.
The Atomic Energy Board started a secret project in the early 1970s to develop a unique uranium enrichment technology.
The reactor was not intended for the production of nuclear energy on a commercial scale, but for the purpose of research and the production of isotopes, which were useful in several fields. Nuclear power would be used for peaceful purposes only, with the provision of additional energy as one of its chief aims. However, in 1971, a programme of weapons development began, with research on the designing of nuclear explosives.
In 1996, South Africa signed the African Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Treaty (the Pelindaba Treaty), which is named after the place where the first atomic reactor was built. South Africa is the only country in the world to manufacture nuclear weapons and then agree to stop production.
Information sourced from: South African History Online.
