The parent agency of South African electricity utility Eskom has announced plans to cut off the funding of the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor project to a ‘handful’ of people.
PBMR reactor design
Minister Barbara Hogan, who heads up South Africa’s department of public enterprises, said that the cut was partly because of the severity of the current economic downturn.
But she also cited ‘sobering realities’ from the PBMR project: no lead customer or investment partner, further investment could require more than ZAR30 billion (EUR 3.2 billion), construction delays, withdrawal from participation in the Next Generation Nuclear Programme as part of the Westinghouse consortium when Westinghouse pulled out, and lack of applicability of pebble bed technology (which is Gen-IV) to a near-term nuclear new-build programme (which would use Gen-II or Gen-III reactor designs).
Now the PBMR project will aim to protect the intellectual property and PBMR assets. Remaining staff will be let go. NECSA will decommission the fuel development laboratory and mothball the helium test facility. The government will seek to continue to maintain and support nuclear graduate programmes. (NEI understands that the HTTF facility at North-West University, which had been partially supported by PBMR, will continue to operate). The government will commission a review and audit of the project to identify lessons learned and outstanding actions, ‘with a particular focus on corporate governance aspects,’ Hogan said.
She confirmed that ZAR7.4 billion (EUR 794 million) has been spent on PBMR in the last 10 years. Of that amount, the South African government contributed 80.3%, Eskom 8.8%, Westinghouse 4.9%, Industrial Development Corp 49% and Exelon 1.1%.
Hogan said that problems with the project started to emerge in 2005.
“Between 2005 and 2009, it became increasingly clear that, based on the direct-cycle electricity design, PBMR’s potential investor and customer market was severely restricted and it was unable to acquire either,” Hogan said.
She called the leakage of skills that will result from closing down the project ‘regrettable but unavoidable’.
She mentioned that there was no question about the technical validity of the project.
NEI understands that the PBMR reactor vessel is currently being manufactured by ENSA in Spain.
PBMR timeline
2000 Detailed feasibility study begins
2003 National nuclear regulator reports positive views on PBMR licensability
2005 Project focus shifts to licencing of demonstration power plant and detailed design work
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