South African nuclear vendor PBMR has signed a contract with German company SGL Carbon for the supply of hardware for the construction of an envisaged demonstration power plant.
The contract, worth about €20-million (or R154-million), was the largest hardware order placed by PBMR so far, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.
”The company is signalling its commitment to delivering the demonstration pebble bed modular reactor to its client, Eskom, by 2010.”
Construction on the reactor is to start in early 2007, the statement read.
The SGL Carbon contract related to the procurement of long-lead items associated with the manufacture of core structure ceramics for the 110mW power plant.
”This is a sure sign that we have every intention of building the demo plant once all legal and administrative aspects have been completed,” PBMR said.
The company has reopened a process of public comment on its environmental impact assessment for the project. It was awaiting a renewed go-ahead from the government and a licence from the National Nuclear Regulator to start construction.
The PBMR (pebble bed modular reactor) project entails the building of a demonstration reactor near Cape Town, and a pilot fuel plant near Pretoria. The first commercial PBMR modules were planned for 2013.
The government has indicated its intent to eventually produce up to 5 000mW of power from pebble bed reactors in South Africa — equating to between 20 and 30 PBMR reactors of 165mW each, the company said.
PBMR is responsible for the design and construction of the project. – Sapa