The South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) has indicated that it will move to assess what remains of the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) intellectual property, which was mothballed in 2010, before initiating a process to select a partner to co-develop the nuclear technology.

CEO Loyiso Tyabashe has welcomed Cabinet’s decision to lift the PBMR from care and maintenance and transfer custodianship of the small modular reactor (SMR) technology to Necsa.

Speaking at a briefing hosted by Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, he said the immediate focus would be to reactivate the physical assets associated with the PBMR.

These included the fuel development laboratory for nuclear fuel qualification and the helium test facility for systems testing and reactor readiness.

In the presentation it was highlighted that the Cabinet decision made it possible to reopen the fuel development laboratories to undertake further research and development into the manufacturing and qualification of high-temperature reactor (HTR) fuel with a view to building the manufacturing capacity to export the fuel globally.

“There is currently only one supplier of HTR fuel, namely China, which may not be enough to meet future global demand,” the presentation noted.

In parallel, Necsa would be engaging local and international investors and technology partners for financing and collaboration on the PBMR, which it argued could emerge as possible future high-temperature gas-cooled reactor and SMR designs

This was a highly competitive area, however, with government indicating that there were more than 80 SMR designs under development globally, and with Ramokgopa acknowledging that South Africa’s decision to mothball the PBMR had resulted in the loss of both time and skills.

He also underlined government’s fiscal constraints and stressed the need to secure funding through partnerships.

Necsa would, thus, undertake a “vendor identification” process to select a partner to “co-develop and operate South Africa’s first SMR demonstration reactor at Pelindaba”.

When the PBMR was mothballed in 2010, the decision was taken after the PBMR Company had failed to secure another investment partner, or an anchor customer.

It was also calculated that a further R30-billion would be required to commercialise the technology, with about R10-billion having already been spend on its development at the time.