|
|
| |
| |
| history |
| |
| How did PBMR begin? |
| |
| From Germany to South Africa |
| |
- A German scientist, Prof. Rudolf Shulten developed the concept
for a modular pebble bed reactor in Germany in the late 1950s.
- Knowledge gained from the German AVR led to the design of a
300MWe (750 MWth) thorium high-temperature reactor (THTR) which
operated between 1985 and 1988. The THTR was a first-of-its-kind
production plant intended to demonstrate the viability a different
subsystem hardware designs, with specific emphasis on plant
availability and maintainability.
- Two German-based groups ABB and Siemens Interatom further
developed the technology and eventually for Hochtemperatur
Reaktorbau Gmbh.
- Siemens was in the process of negotiating orders for several
reactors from the then East German government, the USSR and a German
corporation when, in 1989, the Berlin wall fell. As a result,
negotiations came to an end.
- Budget constraints and token appeasement of the anti-nuclear
lobby led to the pebble bed technology reaching a dead-end
in Europe.
|
| |
| South Africa enters the world stage |
| |
| In 1988, Dr Johan Slabber, later Chief Technology Officer of Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (SOC),
met with Professors Rudolf Schulten and Kurt Kugeler of Aachen
University. During this meeting a proposal was formulated for a South
African pebble bed based, direct cycle reactor with a steel cable
reinforced cast steel reactor vessel built up from sections, which
could be manufactured by the SA industry. |
| |
| Because of the socio-political and economic climate of the time, the
South African Atomic Energy Corporation (now NECSA), where Dr Slabber
was employed at that time, halted all reactor programmes and
consequently did not pursue the proposal. When Slabber joined the
systems engineering house IST in
1989, he introduced the South African utility, with the concept.
Eskom immediately realised the
opportunity of acquiring access to billions of rands worth of fully
developed technology that might otherwise lie idle. In 1999, Eskom
obtained the right to access the HTR engineering database that includes
details of the Siemens/Interatom HTR-Modul design. |
| |
| In 2000 Eskom, the Industrial Development Corporation of South
Africa (IDC), British Nuclear Fuels and the US utility PECO entered
into an investment agreement to build and market PBMR-based power plants).
Exelon soon took over the PECO interests.
Exelon ended its investment in order to focus on its core business of power
generation plant operations and power sales brokerage. |
| |
| In January 2006, the US nuclear giant,
Westinghouse, took over the 15% shareholding previously held
by BNFL. The share transfer was part of BNFL's restructuring process and
the UK Government's decision to sell. (Westinghouse was previously
wholly-owned by BNFL) |
| |
| A feasibility study and associated projects, completed towards the
end of 2002 concluded that the technology was viable. It also concluded
that PBMR power plants represented the lowest levelised cost option in
11 of 14 major markets analysed, while being competitive in the
remaining three. |
| |
| Read more
on how South Africa developed PBMR technology. |
| |
|
Have a look at the PBMR timeline. |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|