22 Aug (NucNet): South Africa’s Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) project has moved a step closer to the construction of a commercial-scale demonstration unit at Koeberg near Cape Town with the signing of a contract for the provision of engineering, procurement, project and construction management (EPCM) services for the plant.
The contract was awarded to the joint venture company Murray & Roberts SNC-Lavalin Nuclear (Pty) Ltd.
The PBMR project entails the building of both the demonstration reactor unit at Koeberg, the site of the country’s only existing nuclear unit, and a pebble fuel plant at Pelindaba near Pretoria. The schedule is to start construction in 2010 and for the demonstration plant to be completed by 2014.
At the signing ceremony in Pretoria, Jaco Kriek, chief executive officer of PBMR, welcomed MRSLN as a valuable long-term partner. He said while the licensing and environmental impact assessment process for the demonstration unit still need to be completed, the signing of the EPCM contract represents “a significant milestone” for PBMR.
The PBMR is a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor with a closed-cycle, gas turbine power conversion system. The demonstration plant will supply about 165 MWe (electrical) to South Africa’s national grid once in service.
If proven successful, the intention is to build up to 30 units in South Africa, after which the technology will be deployed overseas and elsewhere on the African continent.
PBMR’s current investors are the South African government, the South African electricity utility Eskom, the Industrial Development Corporate of South Africa and the American nuclear company Westinghouse Electric Company
>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
PBMR Detail Design Contract Awarded To RWE Nukem (News in Brief No. 77, 30 August 2005)
Ruling Clears Way For PBMR’s Pilot Fuel Plant In South Africa (World Nuclear Review No. 5, 2 February 2007)
Services Contract Signed For PBMR Fuel Plant (World Nuclear Review No. 32, 10 August 2007)
