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South Africa’s SAFARI: From nuclear weapons to nuclear medicine (2013)

Auteur	Jo-Ansie van Wyk
	5-62-9-90-02.pdf
Datum	september 2013
Classificatie	5.62.9.90/02 (ZUID-AFRIKA - INSTALLATIES)
Voorkant

South Africa’s SAFARI
From nuclear weapons to nuclear medicine
Africa Insight Vol 43(2) - September 2013
Jo-Ansie van Wyk lectures in the Department of Political
Sciences, University of South Africa (Unisa), Pretoria, South Africa

Since the verification of the termination of its nuclear weapons programme 
and the dismantling of its nuclear devices and facilities, South Africa has 
succeeded in converting its defensive nuclear posture to the employment of 
nuclear energy for peaceful uses, such as power generation and nuclear 
medicine. In respect of the latter, South Africa has skilfully crafted a 
global niche for itself. Building on its nuclear expertise, South Africa 
has become one of the world’s leading producers of medical isotopes – an 
under-researched area in South Africa’s nuclear and economic diplomacy – 
which are used in a variety of medical diagnostic and therapeutic 
procedures.
Moreover, South Africa has succeeded in producing these isotopes from 
low-enriched, rather than highly enriched uranium; adding further credence 
to its nuclear non-proliferation commitments. By converting its nuclear 
reactor, SAFARI-1, to produce and supply medical isotopes, South Africa has 
gained numerous material and non-material gains, ranging from foreign 
exchange to status and prestige.
Jo-Ansie van Wyk