Introduction

This marks outstanding events that took place at various nuclear institutions facilitated by women in Nuclear South Africa (WiNSA), as well as their participation in Win-Global activities.

WiN-Global 2008

WiN is a world-wide association of women working professionally in the fields of nuclear energy and application of radiation support. The goal of WiN is to in form the public on nuclear and radiation. Its principle objective is to emphasize and support the role that woman can play in addressing the general public’s concerns about nuclear energy and the application of radiation and nuclear technology.

The 2008 annual meeting was hosted by WiN France and well supported by private industry, the nuclear industry in France and government. WiN currently has 60 country members and 32 of them, inclusive of the host country, participated in the WiN-Global meeting namely:IAEA,Austria,Bangladesh,Belgium,Bulgaria,Canada,China,Czecch Republic,Finland,France,Germany,Hungary,Indonesia,
Japan,Kazakhstan,Lithuania,Luxembourg,Moroco,Pakistan,Republic of Korea, Mexico, Romania, Russia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and USA. The South African Delegation comprised of executive members from Necsa, PBMR , and NNR. WiNSA also participated in events like take a girl child to work and outreach programmes. National Science week (NSW) is held country-wide and led by Department of Science and Technology with the objective of emphasizing the importance of Science on daily basis. Joining WINSA

National Science Week events:
NECSA : 12 to 17 May 2008

Provided many exciting opportunities for employees, learners, teachers and learners, parents and public at large, among others :science competitions and exhibitions, public talks, lectures, career exhibitions and learner outreach activities as well as touring NECSA facilities.

iThemba LABS : 10 to 17 May 2008

With theme “Eradicating stereotype of Science field as male dominated career. The events featured a bunch of teachers and learners, science shows and career day.

Events 2006
13 to 20 March 2006
National Science week

During 13-20 March 2006 WiNSA participated in the National Science Week that was held at the Pretoria Show Grounds. The objective of this initiative was career exhibition for learners in Grades 10-12. WiNSA participated by educating the learners and the teachers about the South African Nuclear Industry and advising them in career choices for those who were interested in Nuclear related careers.

30 May to 01 June 2006
Annual WiN Global 2006 Meeting
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

WiN is a world-wide association of women working professionally in the fields of nuclear energy and application of radiation science. The goal of WiN is to inform the public on nuclear issues and radiation. Its principle objective is to emphasize and support the role that women can play in addressing the general public’s concerns about nuclear energy and the application of radiation and nuclear technology. The Win Global meeting was held during June 2006 at Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The Deputy Chairperson of WiNSA, Mrs Ntebate Matube, attended the meeting.

 

LOCAL CHAPTERS OF WiNSA AT NUCLEAR ORGANISATIONS

In order to strengthen WiNSA at Institutional level, local WiNSA chapters were launched i.e. Necsa, PBMR and NNR. WiNSA subcommittees were elected. The Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the institutions attended the event.

 

South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa)

The WiN - Necsa launch was held on 30 June 2006. Women from other nuclear organisation came together to support WiN-Necsa. A girl child was also invited to make a speech at the event. Necsa as an organisation is contributing to the growth and development of the careers of the women within the organisation in terms of Employment Equity. The first major achievement for women within the organisation was to negotiate a better package for themselves during pregnancy. Even though the number of females in the management is unsatisfactory, there has been a slight increase in the number of black females employed. There is also a remarkable increase of black women within the technical levels or in leanerships programs.

 

Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR)

The WiN-PBMR launch was held on the 04 August 2006.The launch was coupled with the celebration of annual women’s day was attended by 170 women from PBMR Pty Ltd. The CEO of PBMR expressed his support for the DME WINSA initiative. The objective of the launch was to strengthen the participation of women in PBMR. The WiN-PBMR committee was elected.

 

iThemba LABS

The WiN-iThemba LABS was launched on the 07 September 2006. The launch was attended by 40 women from iThemba Labs and the Director of the organisation was also present. The discussions were based on the challenges facing women, especially in the nuclear medicine field.

 

Eskom (Koeberg Nuclear Power Station)

WiN- Koeberg was launched in 2004. Issues of concern that needed to be addressed included the following: company policies applicable to women, mentorship, networking, communication, specific procedures and policies. On 23 August 2006 WiN–Koeberg celebrated the achievements in terms of addressing women needs. The issue of facilities for women in maintenance was achieved, since new bathrooms, showers, change rooms were built for the women at Koeberg.

 

National Nuclear Regulator (NNR)

WiN-NNR was launched on the 29 August 2006.There was about 90% attendance of women within the NNR. The message of the day was that women in nuclear have to plough back the skills and information acquired in the industry to the public especially the rural communities of the country. The constitution and charter were presented at the launch. The NNR CEO also committed to funding at least one committee member to attend the WiN-Global 2007 meeting.

 

WiNSA AGM

The 3rd annual general meeting of WiNSA was held on 13 November 2006. The objective of the meeting was to brief the WINSA members about the developments in WiNSA since the 2nd meeting in November 2005, and to review WINSA activities.

 

21 to 27 April 2007
WiN-Global 2007
Bali, Indonesia

The Women in Nuclear (WiN) Global 15th Annual Meeting took place during 21-27 April 2007 in Indonesia. This meeting brought together women who work professionally in the fields of Nuclear energy and radiation technology from all over the world. More than 100 WiN members from 19 countries attended the meeting. The objective of the meeting was for the WiN Board to review the charter and for countries to give a report of their WiN-activities and achievements in the last year. The South African delegation comprised of WiNSA Executive members from Necsa, NNR, PBMR, Koeberg and the Department of Minerals and Energy.