The coloniality and necropolitics of nuclear sacrifice zones: The case of South Africa’s nuclear waste disposal site, Vaalputs

A key feature of the Anthropocene is the production of nuclear waste. Every stage of the nuclear fuel cycle produces radioactive waste that poses health and environmental risks and hence requires safe and secure disposal and management at appropriate sites. In South Africa, the geological disposal of nuclear waste occurs at the Vaalputs National Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility in Namaqualand, Northern Cape Province. Communities in close proximity to nuclear facilities are often termed nuclear host communities and nuclear sacrifice zones. Relying on the work of, for example, Michael Foucault and Achille Mbembe, the project analyses and assesses the coloniality of nuclear power and waste, and the necropolitics of nuclear host communities with specific reference to Vaalputs’ host communities.