During this week, Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Electricity and Energy will, it has announced, interview all 26 shortlisted candidates for the board of the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR). Four of these candidates are for the position of community representative on the board, while the other 22 are candidates to fill the position of labour representative.

“The [NNR] is a regulatory authority established as a juristic person under section 3 of the Nuclear Regulator Act, 1999,” explains the Committee. “Its mandate is to regulate, monitor and enforce safety standards to achieve safe operating conditions, prevent nuclear accidents, and mitigate the consequences of such accidents. This ensures the protection of workers, the public, property and the environment against the potentially harmful effects of ionising radiation and radioactive materials.”

These 26 candidates were selected from 120 applications. The names of the shortlisted candidates were published on Parliament’s website, and public and civil society bodies were invited to submit comments.

The interviews will take place in a closed meeting of the committee. Once all the interviews have been concluded, they will be broadcast and streamed. This delayed release is to ensure fairness for all the candidates.

The process of filling the vacancies in the NNR Board was started last year, by Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa. He did so in terms of section 8(7)(a) of the Nuclear Regulator Act, 1999 (Act No. 47 of 1999).