What happened to PBMR?
In February, Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) Ltd., an eponymously named South African company announced a major change of strategy. After 10 years of development it said it was abandoning plans to build a full-size 165-megawatt-electric demonstration plant.
Does South Africa have a nuclear reactor?
South Africa’s first commercial nuclear power reactor began operating in 1984 but its nuclear industry dates back to the mid-1940s, when the predecessor organisation to the Atomic Energy Corporation (AEC) was formed. The years passed and the commitment to nuclear energy slowed, as the world championed renewable energy.
What is PBMR?
The Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) is a particular design of pebble bed reactor developed by South African company PBMR (Pty) Ltd from 1994 until 2009.
Are pebble bed reactors safe?
Moormann, Kemp and Li’s main concern is that because pebble bed reactors are regarded as intrinsically safe, HTR-PM has been built without a high-pressure, leak-tight containment structure to serve asbackup in case of accidental release of radioactive material, and it also does not have a redundant active cooling …
How does triso fuel work?
TRISO stands for TRi-structural ISOtropic particle fuel. Each TRISO particle is made up of a uranium, carbon and oxygen fuel kernel. Simply put, TRISO particles cannot melt in a reactor and can withstand extreme temperatures that are well beyond the threshold of current nuclear fuels.
How does a pebble bed reactor work?
The fresh pebbles are loaded in the reactor like a gumball machine and helium is pumped down through the pebble bed to extract the heat into a steam generator that produces electricity.
How many nuclear reactors are in South Africa?
two nuclear reactors
South Africa has two nuclear reactors generating 5% of its electricity.
What is the smallest nuclear reactor?
The EGP-6 is a Russian small nuclear reactor design. It is a scaled down version of the RBMK design. As the RBMK, the EGP-6 use water for cooling and graphite as a neutron moderator. It is the world’s smallest commercial nuclear reactor.
What reactors use TRISO fuel?
The first nuclear reactor to use TRISO fuels was the Dragon reactor and the first powerplant was the THTR-300. Currently, TRISO fuel compacts are being used in the experimental reactors, the HTR-10 in China, and the High-temperature engineering test reactor in Japan.
Who makes TRISO fuel?
WILMINGTON, North Carolina—November 6, 2019—Global Nuclear Fuel (GNF) and X-energy today announced a collaboration to produce low-cost, high-quality TRi-structural ISOtropic (TRISO) particle nuclear fuel.
Why is the PBMR important to South Africa?
Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (SOC) is a public-private partnership comprising the South African government, nuclear industry players and utilities. The PBMR was clasified as a strategic national project due to its significance to South Africa and its potential in international markets, as a prospective provider of safe, clean energy.
Which is the largest nuclear reactor in South Africa?
These, in a nutshell, are the features of South Africa’s Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR). From a small nuclear engineering company with barely 100 employees at its inception in 1999, Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (SOC) (PBMR) has grown into one of the largest nuclear reactor design and engineering companies in the world by 2004.
Where is the pebble bed reactor in South Africa?
The Pebble Bed Modular Reactor ( PBMR) is a particular design of pebble bed reactor under development by South African company PBMR (Pty) Ltd since 1994. The project entails the construction of a demonstration power plant at Koeberg near Cape Town (now postponed indefinitely) and a fuel plant at Pelindaba near Pretoria .
What kind of reactor is a PBMR reactor?
The PBMR is a helium-cooled, High Temperature Reactor (HTR). Very high efficiency and attractive economics are possible without compromising the high levels of passive safety expected of advanced nuclear designs.