Buoyed by several significant milestones that the National Radioactive Waste Disposal Institute (NRWDI) has achieved over the past year, CEO Riedewaan Bakardien is upbeat its prospects for shaping the future of South Africa’s nuclear waste management landscape and the back-end management of the nuclear fuel cycle. In a wide-ranging interview with Engineering News & Mining Weekly, he delved into the NRWDI’s developing plans to strengthen the country’s long-term radioactive waste management capability through critical research and development, skills developing, technology localisation and the creation of high-quality employment opportunities.