Eskom has moved to reassure residents living around the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station that there was no release of radiation beyond the plant’s controlled areas during recent maintenance work at Unit 2, following the detection of two brief airborne radioactivity events inside a controlled work area earlier this month.

TygerBurger reports that the matter is also being closely followed in Atlantis, one of the closest towns to Koeberg, situated about 10 km from the nuclear power station. While Eskom maintains that no radioactive material escaped the containment building and that there was no risk to surrounding communities, any incident involving radiation is of interest to Atlantis residents because of the town’s proximity to the facility.

Despite Eskom’s assurances, concerns over nuclear safety remain deeply rooted among many residents living in Duynefontein, Melkbosstrand and surrounding communities. For decades, residents have questioned the risks associated with living close to Africa’s only nuclear power station, particularly following reports of outages or technical incidents.