SOUTH AFRICA: NUCLEAR FACILITY UNDER CONSTRUCTION

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06813267
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: March 9, 2023
• Document Release Date: April 23, 2020
• Case Number: F-2018-00226
• Publication Date: December 23, 1981

Approved for Release: 2020/03/16 C06813267
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Africa Review
23 December 1981
ALA AR 81-043
23 December 1961
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SOUTH AFRICA: NUCLEAR FACILITY UNDER CONSTRUCTION
The South Africans are constructing a nuclear re-
search facility at Faure, 25 kilometers east of Cape
Town. The facility, known as the National Accelerator
Center, will contain a cyclotron, a type of particle
accelerator, which, according to a South African publi-
cation, will be capable of producing a 200-million elec-
tron volt proton beam. The South Africans reportedly
plan to use the cyclotron to conduct basic nuclear re-
search, produce radioisotopes, and treat selected forms
of cancer.
The center could also assist the South Africans in
a nuclear weapons development program. The cyclotron's
proton beam could be manipulated to produce high-energy
neutrons which are used by physicists to study materials
selected for use in a weapon design. Although similar
research could be done at a research center at Pelin-
daba, that reactor is being operated on a limited
schedule because of a shortage of nuclear fuel.
23 December 1981
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Approved for Release: 2020/03/16 C06813267