South Africa's first mini reactor could be online by 2026 — Report

One little step closer to independence? Too bad they still need to discuss this with Eskom / ANC
 
I'm not sure if building a privately funded nuclear power station on government owned land is a good idea especially with the ANC wanting to nationalise everything.
 
wingnut771 said:
What would the kWh cost be?
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From what I can gather:* A single 9g Uranium pebble the size of a billiard bill costs about $40 (2022) and generates the same energy as 5 tons of coal ($400/ton in March 2022 or $125/ton currently). With none of the air emissions. A normal load for 3 years is a little over 4 tons of these pebbles.

So the upfront costs are bad but its running costs are tiny compared to coal. There are disposal issues but they are nowhere near as bad as some people make out.

* Not an expert. If anyone has better numbers share.
 
elp said:
From what I can gather:* A single 9g Uranium pebble the size of a billiard bill costs about $40 (2022) and generates the same energy as 5 tons of coal ($400/ton in March 2022 or $125/ton currently). With none of the air emissions. A normal load for 3 years is a little over 4 tons of these pebbles.

So the upfront costs are bad but its running costs are tiny compared to coal. There are disposal issues but they are nowhere near as bad as some people make out.

* Not an expert. If anyone has better numbers share.
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Yeah, there has to be a better way to make 80MW than to spend R9billion.
 
Never going to work here in South Africa, the government will bury it under all the red tape.
 
wingnut771 said:
Yeah, there has to be a better way to make 80MW than to spend R9billion.
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Agreed. Kusile with all its overruns has been about R27 Millon/MW vs R112 Million/Mw for PBMR. Going to need a very VERY long life for the cheaper fuel to save money.
 
The Roggeveld Wind Power Station is an operational 147 MW
Total construction costs for this wind farm are reported to amount to US$284 million
 
entrepr said:
Fortunately the chances of Capetonians allowing this to proceed are zero.
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Capetonians: Ya nee not such a big fan of nuclear meltdowns.

Plant Supplier: It will allow you to become independent from the ANC/Eskom.

Capetonians: We'll take our chances with a nuclear meltdown. Less likely to **** things up than the ANC.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: 3WA
RedViking said:
One little step closer to independence? Too bad they still need to discuss this with Eskom / ANC
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Why do they need to discuss this with Eskom or the ANC? Municipalities can get their own energy, which in the Western Cape means the DA.
 
zolly said:
Why do they need to discuss this with Eskom or the ANC? Municipalities can get their own energy, which in the Western Cape means the DA.
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If you say so boss

The consortium is currently conducting a feasibility study for the project, after which it will enter formal discussions with Eskom over its plan.

The reactor’s planned construction site is on the same terrain as the Koeberg nuclear power station
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zolly said:
Why do they need to discuss this with Eskom or the ANC? Municipalities can get their own energy, which in the Western Cape means the DA.
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They own the land that the PBMR license is on from Apartheid days.
 
RedViking said:
If you say so boss
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So it seems all they need is permission from Eskom to use the land and to sign up legal agreements around that. Considering Eskom isn't actively trying to stop new energy projects (like Molefe and co did when he ran Eskom and they blocked dozens of renewable energy projects from the energy plan at the time), this is most likely about coming to a good agreement (assuming the pebble bed tech isn't a disaster waiting to happen). Not saying Eskom will say yes, but Eskom doesn't have the same tendencies it had a few years ago.
 
zolly said:
So it seems all they need is permission from Eskom to use the land and to sign up legal agreements around that. Considering Eskom isn't actively trying to stop new energy projects (like Molefe and co did when he ran Eskom and they blocked dozens of renewable energy projects from the energy plan at the time), this is most likely about coming to a good agreement (assuming the pebble bed tech isn't a disaster waiting to happen). Not saying Eskom will say yes, but Eskom doesn't have the same tendencies it had a few years ago.
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R9billion for 80MW is the disaster.
 
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