Minister Pandor unveils nanotech equipment at Rhodes University, South Africa
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had released Volume 1 covering general information on the repository in 2010. It plans to release the other three volumes by January 2015. Volume 2 is on repository safety before permanent closure, Volume 4 on administrative and programmatic requirements, and Volume 5 on license specifications. McCullum expects those to have “as affirmative a conclusion as Volume 3.” Meanwhile, the administration has also endorsed a separate three-step plan for waste disposal based on recommendations from a Blue Ribbon
Commission on America’s Nuclear Future. The Commission called for a pilot interim storage facility, a larger interim facility, and finally a geological repository picked via a consent-based approach. “There are two parallel paths: what to do about Yucca Mountain and the broader recommendations from the BRC,” Ewing said. “They will have to intersect at some point. This is a fascinating story of how materials science interacts with the social and political environments.” Prachi Patel
province also hosts the Ultra High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy Facility located at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) in Port Elizabeth. According to Nyokong, the province has an important role to play in advancing the field. She said, “The news media will say [we’re in] a poor province and nothing good will come out of it, that Rhodes is too small. For me those things are challenges. This equipment, together with the equipment at NMMU makes us the hub of Nanotechnology.” Pandor said, “The availability of the TOF-SIMS in the country will enhance the quality of research and training. The equipment will assist in advancing requirements to address the national skills shortage in many key areas of research.” The Minister spoke of how the 2005 National Nanotechnology Strategy had not only advanced the technology missions identified in the 2002 National Research and Development Strategy, but also strengthened government’s industrial focus. According to Pandor, the strategy has seen the adoption of a formal nanotechnology teaching program, nanotechnology research chairs, the production of 170 postgraduate students, and the publication of more than 1100 articles in peer-reviewed journals. In addition, more than 20 patents have been filed, and it is hoped that South Africandeveloped nanotechnology-enhanced products will soon enter the market.
Minister Pandor unveils nanotech equipment at Rhodes University, South Africa
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cience and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor praised South Africa for becoming a major world player in cutting-edge nanotechnology despite only being involved for a short time. Speaking at the launch of the new Rhodes University/Department of Science and Technology (DST) Centre for Nanotechnology Innovation last fall, Pandor said huge strides had been made since 2005, when South Africa took its first step entrenching this science by formulating a national strategy. Pandor unveiled the center’s time-offlight secondary ion mass spectrometer (TOF-SIMS), which will help the university focus on specialized
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