[ RadSafe ] Building the PBMR

[Muckerheide, James]

Friends,

 

The following report from Japan indicates South African progress and
(hopeful?) schedule on the PBMR!

 

Regards, Jim Muckerheide

===================

 


Kyodo: M'bishi Heavy Wins Order for Key Structure of S. Africa's Nuke Plant


JPP20051206969070 Tokyo Kyodo World Service in English 1407 GMT 06 Dec 05



Computer selected and disseminated without FBIS editorial intervention]
Tokyo, Dec. 6 Kyodo -- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. said Tuesday it has
received two orders for the core structure of a demonstration reactor of an
advanced nuclear power plant to be built in South Africa. 

The contracts are worth approximately $15 million or 1.8 billion yen in
total. One is for the basic design of a key structure called a core barrel
assembly (CBA), part of the pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR), and the other
is for provision of forgings and procurement of items for the CBA. 

Mitsubishi Heavy will start constructing the core structure for the PBMR with
165,000 kilowatt output in 2007 and will deliver the structure in 2011 to
South Africa's national power utility, which plans to introduce the reactor
into the country's grid system in 2013, the company said. 

The South African government intends to increase the number of PBMRs in
commercial use to 24 by 2020, according to the company. 

According to Mitsubishi Heavy, the PBMR is a safe and cost-efficient reactor
that uses silicon carbide-coated uranium particles encased in graphite for
fuel, making it free from risk of reactor core meltdown. Helium gas is used
as the coolant and energy transfer medium to a closed-cycle gas turbine and
generator.