Engineering News | Columnist | Kelvin Kemm

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Kelvin Kemm

Dr Kemm is a nuclear physicist and is the CEO of Nuclear Africa (Pty) Ltd.

Kemm is the chairperson of the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation. He sits on the Board of Advisers of the Committee for A Constructive Tomorrow, based in Washington DC.

He is also a Board Member of GoNuclear Inc, and EFN: USA both based in Colorado, USA.

Exec@nuclearafrica.co.za

Pelindaba radiation scare uncalled-for

By: Kelvin Kemm 29th November 2013 Nuclear radiation is mysterious and by far the majority of people have no idea what it is. Much of this attitude is understandable and it should be a signal to nuclear professionals that they should do something about the lack of public understanding. Worldwide, over the last half century,... →

Nail-biting period for Indian space body as craft sets off for Mars

By: Kelvin Kemm 22nd November 2013 The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) must be congratulated on the successful launch of its first attempt at a mission to Mars. Its Mars Orbiter-Mission is also known by the informal name of Mangalyaan, which means Mars-craft. ISRO chairperson K Radhakrishan is under no illusion about how... →

Ministry is the greatest impediment to higher education development

By: Kelvin Kemm 15th November 2013 I attended a cocktail function at which Dr Theuns Eloff, vice-chancellor of the North-West University, was the guest speaker. He spoke about higher education and how universities should be run. I have known him personally for some time, so I was aware of his general views and am in full agreement... →

Beer advert ban plan seems headed the e-toll route

By: Kelvin Kemm 8th November 2013 I saw a newspaper article headlined: Alcohol ads to be capped ‘for good reason’. My immediate reaction was that there was no good reason for this. It immediately seemed to me that this is another e-toll mess-up in the making. The e-tolls on Gauteng freeways were a really badly planned, and all... →

Metrology under the spotlight

By: Kelvin Kemm 1st November 2013 I was invited to be the guest speaker at the 2013 Test and Measurement Conference, hosted by the National Laboratory Association. It was a well attended event and was most successful. I met an interesting spread of people, from not only South Africa but also other countries. The chairperson of... →

School chess initiative gets further shot in the arm

By: Kelvin Kemm 25th October 2013 One of the greatest assets that any child can gain out of any educational process is the ability to think in an analytical fashion. This attribute is fundamental to any form of education. The degree to which this fundamental truth is overlooked in education continues to surprise me. There is... →

Climate change is not a fact of life

By: Kelvin Kemm 11th October 2013 At social and business gatherings, I continue to hear people talk about ‘climate change’ as if it is a fact of life and is really happening. Mostly, people also confuse the concepts of climate change and the occurrence of weather. Modern media technology also plays a role in all this, to my mind,... →

SA needs a great deal of nuclear power

By: Kelvin Kemm 4th October 2013 For some time now, I have been corresponding with the gentleman who was the Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy under former US President Ronald Reagan. →

Fundraising to protect the rhino sounds warm – but it won’t work

By: Kelvin Kemm 27th September 2013 The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has declared the southern white rhino to be endangered. →

Where the thought experiment falls apart

By: Kelvin Kemm 20th September 2013 In the world of physics, there is the concept of the ‘thought experiment’. This is a very useful mechanism in physics. →

Disinformation behind inordinate fear of nuclear radiation

By: Kelvin Kemm 13th September 2013 There is an inordinate public fear of the term ‘nuclear radiation’. This is understandable, owing to all the disinformation about nuclear issues that has been spread around. →

South Africa’s nuclear prospects under the spotlight at PE conference

By: Kelvin Kemm 6th September 2013 A nuclear power conference was held in Port Elizabeth under the banner of the Nuclear Industry Association of South Africa (Niasa). I collaborated with iasa in organising the conference. An objective in holding the conference in Port Elizabeth was to draw potential players from the Eastern Cape... →

Smart electricity grids not for South Africa

By: Kelvin Kemm 30th August 2013 A topic that keeps appearing in the South African technical media is that of ‘Smart Grids’ in reference to electricity transmission and distribution. This is all projected as being advanced, and the way to go. Yes it is advanced, but is it the way to go? Short answer is; no, not for us. Let us... →

Technologywise, one size does not always fit all

23rd August 2013 It is essential for the people of African countries to have the self-confidence to tackle their own technological challenges. As time has passed, I have increasingly realised that we have to solve our own problems. It is so tempting to think that some European country has the answer because,... →

The downside of wind farms

By: Kelvin Kemm 16th August 2013 There have been news items the last few days concerning the arrival at Port Elizabeth of wind-turbine blades for the wind farm under construction in the Cape. I have seen this on news websites, and not in the daily press. →

Kasparov emphasises chess’s brain sharpening function on African tour

By: Kelvin Kemm 9th August 2013 The thirteenth world chess champion, grandmaster Garry Kasporov, recently completed a tour of seven African countries. When he returned, I sat with him over a cup of coffee and we discussed the tour. →

Rethink anticollusion laws where large projects are involved

By: Kelvin Kemm 2nd August 2013 There has been a big fuss lately around the topic of ‘collusion’ amongst a group of large construction companies. There have been many outraged comments in the newspapers about how these companies should be punished for the damage that they have caused to the public. One has to ask; what damage?... →

There is scope for local content in SA nuclear build programme

By: Kelvin Kemm 26th July 2013 The Nuclear Industry Association of South Africa (Niasa) will be holding a convention in Port Elizabeth in August. →

How Tshwane stabbed electricity users in the back

By: Kelvin Kemm 19th July 2013 A reader contacted me and was irritated by the inability of the general population to tell the difference between switching a hot-water geyser off to save yourself some money and to help the country. He was quite correct; I share the sentiment. →

How bid to create unwarranted drama messed up good solar storms story

By: Kelvin Kemm 12th July 2013 I was reading an article in a magazine that was two years old to kill time. It was a very popular magazine, with the average family as the target readership. I was pleased to see an article about solar storms but, as I read it, the horror set in. →

There is more to education than smart surroundings

By: Kelvin Kemm 5th July 2013 There have been school children marching in the streets demanding equal education standards. Various organisations have also climbed into the fray. The Minister has become involved. There has been a public spat between the Minister and one organisation which is demanding ‘minimum... →

Freeway to e-way tangle

By: Kelvin Kemm 28th June 2013 The e-toll saga of the South African Roads Agency (Sanral) certainly has reached amazing proportions. There is virtual universal opposition to the concept of the e-tolling of the urban freeways, with Sanral desperately trying to fight in favour of e-tolling. Sanral is now looking much more like a... →

Much strike action betrays lack of grasp of basics of economics

By: Kelvin Kemm 21st June 2013 The wave of industrial strikes which have occurred across the country for months now is worrying. Such strike action does huge damage to the economy as well as to the people of the country, generally. →

Tyre recycling plan is dumb in the extreme

By: Kelvin Kemm 14th June 2013 The scheme of the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) to impose a levy on the sale of car tyres to supposedly finance recycling is not reasonable and should be scrapped. Pressures on inflation and the cost of living are bad enough without the DEA making them worse. →

Don’t comment, please, you are not technical

By: Kelvin Kemm 7th June 2013 It is an interesting modern social phenomenon that many people who have no training in science or engineering at all feel completely free to make science comment in public. To make matters worse, the press and various public authorities are quite prepared to listen to them. →

There is no evidence GM food is dangerous to human health

By: Kelvin Kemm 31st May 2013 It really is totally amazing to read the ridiculous comments that people make in public about scientific matters. →

NPC’s surprising nuclear about-turn

By: Kelvin Kemm 24th May 2013 It was rather surprising to read news reports that the National Planning Commission (NPC) is asking to put the South African nuclear energy plans back up for public debate. →

How mental ‘fooling around’ won scientists the Nobel Prize

By: Kelvin Kemm 17th May 2013 In 2010, two Russian émigré scientists, Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov, who were working at the University of Manchester, in the UK, were awarded the Nobel Prize for working with graphite. →

Prophecies of doom that never came to pass

By: Kelvin Kemm 10th May 2013 A US-based gentleman by the name of John Dendahl emails me from time to time. He is the retired president of the First National Bank of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and he and his wife, Jackie, now live in retirement near Denver, Colorado. Dendahl started his career by earning degrees in electrical... →

DA statement on nuclear energy way off the mark

By: Kelvin Kemm 3rd May 2013 The Democratic Alliance's (DA's) Shadow Minister of Energy, Lance Greyling, issued statement in which he said that the DA is shocked at government government averring that South Africa’s nuclear programme is now non-negotiable. →

Earth Hour much ado about nothing

By: Kelvin Kemm 26th April 2013 This very silly concept of Earth Hour has come and gone. During Earth Hour, people are asked to switch off as many electrical devices as possible, particularly lights, to try to show solidarity with something. That ‘something’ is very confused. →

Pulling troops out of CAR a big mistake

By: Kelvin Kemm 19th April 2013 It has been announced that South African troops deployed in the Central African Republic (CAR) are going to be withdrawn. From my layman’s position, looking in, I think that this move is a mistake. The South African military force should stay there. →

Police forensic work must be farmed out to private companies

By: Kelvin Kemm 12th April 2013 There is a Bill scheduled to come up in Parliament concerning the creation of a national DNA database that will bank the DNA profiles of all convicted criminals and of those arrested on Schedule 1 offences. The plan is that this information will be available to the police to assist them in... →

Nuclear Africa 2013 a resounding success

By: Kelvin Kemm 5th April 2013 The Nuclear Africa 2013 conference, held during March, was most successful. We had delegates from a number of countries, including the UK, the US, France, Russia, Japan, Belgium and Korea. →

Nuclear power is the future

By: Kelvin Kemm 29th March 2013 Near the end of the ninetenth century, scientists were becoming aware of the existence of atoms. The philosophical concept of atoms had been mentioned hundreds of years earlier, but early scientists had no means of finding out if they existed. When atoms were scientifically shown to be a... →

Strategy development essential for the success of companies

By: Kelvin Kemm 22nd March 2013 I develop business strategies for companies. It is really important to have some sort of strategy in place. There is universal agreement on that point. →

Nuclear power has much to recommend it

By: Kelvin Kemm 15th March 2013 Electricity is one of the greatest liberators of mankind, much like the discovery of fire and the wheel changed the course of history. Prior to the discovery of electricity, virtually all motive power was directly linked to the muscle power of people. →

Emotions reign supreme in rhino poaching debate

By: Kelvin Kemm 8th March 2013 The whole rhino poaching issue is highly emotive. When anything becomes too emotive then reason and logic start to suffer. →

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