Dec 7, 2006, 13:02 GMT
Pelindaba - South Africa will use uranium downgraded from old Russian nuclear warheads to fuel its planned Pebble Bed Modular Reactors (PBMR), according to public enterprises minister Alec Erwin.
'On the PBMR, that uranium we will bring in from Russia, which is down blended weapon graded uranium,' Erwin told Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa.
'The target is for 2012 to build the first reactor,' he said, adding that the site outside the city of Cape Town that houses Koeberg, the country's - and the continent's - only existing nuclear power plant, had been identified as a location.
'From 2013 onwards, over a period of 15 years, we want to build 24 models at 165 MW,' he said, adding that he initial baseload customer would be power utility Eskom.
The PMBR is based on old German technology and has been modified by South African scientists. A pilot fuel plan with an initial annual production of 270,000 tennis ball-sized uranium dioxide spheres or pebbles is being developed at Pelindaba, South Africa's nuclear research facility north of Pretoria.
The PBMR facilities - essentially mini-reactors regarded as extremely safe by their developers - will all use Russian uranium and would be located around the country, including Coega, the new harbour development off the coast of Port Elizabeth in the east of the country, according to Erwin.
'We will build a station at Coega. We've kept space in the industrical development zone for the PBMR,' he told dpa.
'In our total energy programme we kept 4,000 megawatt free (for the PBMR). There are 24 models that we would be prepared to purchase. If it is very successful we might purchase more in future,' Erwin said.
South Africa is competing with China in the development of the PBMR and hopes to be the first in commercialising it worldwide.
Erwin believes a reactor of this nature is particularly beneficial for Africa. 'I have no doubt that it will be an important technology for Africa, even for India, China and Brazil,' he told dpa.
'We are probably ahead of China at this point in time. Their design is slightly different,' he added.
Apart from the PBMR South Africa is looking to purchase a more conventional nuclear power, similar to the 1,800 megawatt capacity Koeberg that was built by the French in the 1970s as a pressurised water reactor.
'We'll make a decision early next year for a more conventional third-generation plant. There are three companies that put in bids: Areva, Westinghouse and Candu.
South Africa is the world's fourth-largest uranium producer. The country stopped enriching uranium in 1997 following the dismantling of its apartheid-era nuclear weapons programme.
'We stopped it in 1997. It was very, very expensive for the small amounts we needed in Koeberg,' the minister said.
'We are re-evaluating our nuclear programme. We are making further announcements next year. We have the uranium, and we have the technology. But we would not replicate the old technology. We have to give it a second thought,' he said.
South Africa, which has been party to the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty since 1991, this week signed a five-year international agreement on the peaceful use of nuclear technology.
A statement by the department of science and technology to mark the signing said it was 'resolute that nuclear energy should be applied for peaceful uses to benefit South Africa's health, agriculture, water and other resources and sectors.'
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