South Africa’s first mini nuclear reactor planned for the Western Cape
The Western Cape could get South Africa’s first mini nuclear reactor as early as 2026, Sunday news Rapport reports.
The publication has received exclusive information about the project from South African venture capitalist André Pienaar’s C5 Capital, which is leading a consortium raising R9 billion in private investment to build the pebble-bed modular reactor (PBMR).
The mini reactor planned for rollout in the Western Cape consists of four units — each capable of delivering 80MW of power for a combined output of 320MW.
It will be the first of several similar reactors in a 1,800MW network planned for construction over the long term.
Pienaar has estimated that the per-reactor cost could decline to between R4.5 billion and R5.5 billion as more are constructed.
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.
Pienaar told Rapport this was because the area had already been approved for constructing a PBMR. The only other site where a PBMR has also been approved is Pelindaba near Hartbeespoort.
The consortium hopes to secure a licence for the plant from the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa in early 2024 and to bring it into service within the next three years.
Pebble-bed modular reactor (PBMR) design by X-Energy.
It is unclear whether C5 Capital’s project involves Afriforum, which previously told Rapport that discussions with Pienaar were part of the civil rights organisation’s efforts to establish its own private power firm.
C5 Capital is among the largest investors in the US small reactor company X-Energy.
The specifications of the planned Western Cape plant match those of the world’s first commercial-scale advanced nuclear reactor X-Energy is building as part of the US Department of Energy’s $2.5 billion (R45.53 billion) Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.
Mini nuclear reactor technology has been in development for multiple decades and is currently being researched and planned for rollout by several companies in the US.
In January 2023, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) certified the country’s first nuclear small modular reactor design — a 50MW advanced light-water design developed by NuScale Power.
Long history of PBMRs in South Africa
The most popular type of mini nuclear reactor is the PBMR — which is designed for faster deployment and safer operation than large nuclear reactors.
The first forms of PBMRs were developed by a South African team working in Eskom’s PBMR company.
Eskom planned to construct a PBMR at Duynefontein near Koeberg, but after a decade of development and ballooning costs with a lack of investment, the project was shut down.
Two former members of this team — Eben Mulder and Martin van Staden — have been scooped up by X-Energy. They serve as the company’s chief scientist and lead reactor developer, respectively.
PBMR’s name comes from the fact that it consists of a steel pressure vessel with a graphite core filled with enriched uranium dioxide fuel “pebbles”, each roughly the size of a pool (billiards) ball.
With the pebbles loaded into the reactor, helium is pumped through the pebble bed to extract heat to convert water into steam that turns a turbine.
Fresh pebbles are added daily at the top to refuel the reactor, as older ones are discharged at the bottom.
The pebbles can be used for about three years and recirculated through the core up to six times.
The pebbles have a Tristructural Isotropic (Triso) coating that creates an airtight seal around the uranium kernel.
This retains the fission products and gases produced during operations, allowing the plant to be built within 500 metres of factories or urban areas.
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