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"South Africa's expenditure on the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) nuclear technology, as well as on the State-owned enterprises pursuing its development, is set to fall materially over the next three years, the country's 2010 expenditure estimates show. The 846-page '2010 Estimates of National Expenditure' book, which was released together with the National Budget on Wednesday, also indicated that government's contribution to the PBMR would end altogether in 2013. Between 2006/7 and 2009/10, the country allocated R7,2-billion for the development of the PBMR demonstration and fuel plants, while it allocated a further R1,73-billion in 2009/10 for the programme. However, the chapter on 'Public Enterprises' in the expenditure documentation shows that the 'Nuclear Sector', which is code for the PBMR, would receive only R11,4-million over the next three years. For the upcoming fiscal period, some R3,6-million has been set aside, followed by R3,8-million for 2011/12 and R4-million for 2012/13."

South Africa's Pebble Bed Modular Reactor Company (PBMR) reports that its PBMR nuclear power plant is poised to become the world's first commercial scale advanced nuclear reactor to be built in the new millennium.

In his letter (Expensive questions, December 1), Mike Deats questions the nuclear Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) but suggests SA should go ahead with nuclear power as soon as possible to mitigate climate change even without the PBMR technology. However, the International Atomic Energy Agency , which exists to spread the peaceful use of the atom, revealed in a report a few years ago that power generation through nuclear fission could not grow fast enough over the next decades to slow climate change - even under the most favourable circumstances. The cost of developing nuclear energy is rising exponentially. In the US uranium now costs 60 for 450g, compared with 10 for 450g nine years ago. There is still no safe repository for nuclear waste anywhere in the world, and Yucca Mountain where the US hopes to store its nuclear waste had an estimated cost of 58bn in 2001, which has now escalated to an estimated 96bn. Last year there were 250 incidents of nuclear material being lost or stolen. In the worst-case scenario of a Chernobyl-type accident, the costs could be as high as 700bn, roughly the size of the current US fiscal bail-out.

In his letter (Expensive questions, December 1), Mike Deats questions the nuclear Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) but suggests SA should go ahead with nuclear power as soon as possible to mitigate climate change even without the PBMR technology. However, the International Atomic Energy Agency , which exists to spread the peaceful use of the atom, revealed in a report a few years ago that power generation through nuclear fission could not grow fast enough over the next decades to slow climate change - even under the most favourable circumstances. The cost of developing nuclear energy is rising exponentially. In the US uranium now costs 60 for 450g, compared with 10 for 450g nine years ago. There is still no safe repository for nuclear waste anywhere in the world, and Yucca Mountain where the US hopes to store its nuclear waste had an estimated cost of 58bn in 2001, which has now escalated to an estimated 96bn. Last year there were 250 incidents of nuclear material being lost or stolen. In the worst-case scenario of a Chernobyl-type accident, the costs could be as high as 700bn, roughly the size of the current US fiscal bail-out.

In his letter (Expensive questions, December 1), Mike Deats questions the nuclear Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) but suggests SA should go ahead with nuclear power as soon as possible to mitigate climate change even without the PBMR technology. However, the International Atomic Energy Agency , which exists to spread the peaceful use of the atom, revealed in a report a few years ago that power generation through nuclear fission could not grow fast enough over the next decades to slow climate change - even under the most favourable circumstances. The cost of developing nuclear energy is rising exponentially. In the US uranium now costs 60 for 450g, compared with 10 for 450g nine years ago. There is still no safe repository for nuclear waste anywhere in the world, and Yucca Mountain where the US hopes to store its nuclear waste had an estimated cost of 58bn in 2001, which has now escalated to an estimated 96bn. Last year there were 250 incidents of nuclear material being lost or stolen. In the worst-case scenario of a Chernobyl-type accident, the costs could be as high as 700bn, roughly the size of the current US fiscal bail-out.

"THE pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR) technology is unlikely to solve SA's energy shortage in a cost- effective way, according to an Institute of Security Studies paper on the project. The paper pours cold water on the benefits of the PBMR technology at a time when the future of the PBMR company lies in tatters, following the government's decision to drastically cut its funding. Trade unions last month said the majority of the company's employees had opted to take voluntary retrenchment packages."

Scientists heard conflicting views on safety issues around pebble-bed nuclear reactors at an international conference in Washington last week, says the Cape Times. The debate is significant for SA as the country intends to build a demonstration model pebble-bed modular reactor (PBMR) at Koeberg, and 20 to 30 for export. Eskom is attracted to the technology because it sees it as being 'inherently safe' and not needing the expense of a full safety barrier, known as a secondary containment, which other modern reactors have. In June, Rainer Moormann, a scientist who works at Germany's Juelich Research Centre, FZJ, published a report on safety problems with pebble-bed reactors after re-examining the pebble-bed prototype reactor, the AVR, which was shut down in 1988. According to an article in Nucleonics Week, Rainer's findings were 'strongly rebutted' in a presentation by PBMR Ltd, which is 100% owned by Eskom. The PBMR company said Moormann is alone in his findings, and other scientists regard his study as 'flawed'.

"R9bn taxpayer-funded nuclear energy plan finally grinds to halt The government has pulled the plug on its ambitious nuclear energy programme after pumping more than R9-billion into it over more than 11 years. Current Font Size: The Pebble Bed Modular Reactor Company (PBMR), which was established in 1999 to build small nuclear power reactors, faces imminent closure. In a letter dated July 5, Public Enterprises Minister Barbara Hogan told the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM): "The minister of finance has clearly stated that there will be no further funding for the company, and I would like to reiterate that this position has not changed. "

A key assessment document for the proposed pebble bed nuclear reactor was fatally flawed, the Public Service Accountability Monitor said on Tuesday. A decision on whether to go ahead with a PBMR demonstration project involved choices on the use of substantial public resources, the Grahamstown-based NGO said. It said the socio-economic impact assessment (SEIA) carried out on the project did not give the public the information it needed to participate meaningfully in these decisions. It said the SEIA was based on a proposal for a 400 megawatt demonstration unit. However the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (Pty) Limited (PBMR) website now said the reactor was "designated DPP200".

* In talks with potential local, foreign equity partners * To couple power generation, industrial process heat use By Agnieszka Flak JOHANNESBURG, June 23 (Reuters) - South African nuclear technology firm PBMR plans to have its first 80 megawatt (MW) power and heat processing plant based on its pebble-fuel technology by 2018, a company official said. Tom Ferreira, a spokesman for Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR), said the timeline for the launch of the plant had been delayed after the company decided to change its designs to attract more investments and bridge a funding gap.

The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (Deat) has extended the deadline for public comment on the environmental impact report (EIR) for the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) by two weeks. Environmental consultants Acer Africa said that a number of interested and affected parties had submitted requests for an extension of this deadline, which was originally expected to close on October 24. All interested and affected parties would now have until November 7 to review the EIR and submit their comments.

The cost of the controversial Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) project that Eskom wants to build at Koeberg is likely to run well beyond the government's present estimate of R16-billion - and that's without taking into account the cost of dealing with the resulting nuclear waste. So says Kommetjie architect and environmentalist Rod Gurzynski in a scathing critique of the specialist study on the financial aspects of the project.

The new national nuclear policy which the government will reportedly gazette before the end of this month has completely bypassed Parliament and ordinary MPs have not had any input into its formulation, says the opposition DA. It is now asking the Speaker to place the policy on Parliament's agenda. The move coincides with concern by some "interested and affected parties" that they are still not being given enough time to respond to the environmental impact assessment report for the controversial Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) "mini" nuclear demonstration project that Eskom wants to build at Koeberg. The already-extended deadline for comment is Friday.

The cost of Pebble Bed Modular Reactor's (PBMR's) demonstration plant and pilot fuel plant had almost doubled to R31-billion as a result of inflation and higher materials costs, company chief executive Jaco Kriek said last week. Kriek said the demonstration reactor, which would generate 200 megawatts of heat and 80MW of electricity, was now expected to be commissioned by 2018 - four years later than previously expected. The plant has yet to receive environmental clearance.

The cost of Pebble Bed Modular Reactor's (PBMR's) demonstration plant and pilot fuel plant had almost doubled to R31-billion as a result of inflation and higher materials costs, company chief executive Jaco Kriek said last week. Kriek said the demonstration reactor, which would generate 200 megawatts of heat and 80MW of electricity, was now expected to be commissioned by 2018 - four years later than previously expected. The plant has yet to receive environmental clearance.

The cost of Pebble Bed Modular Reactor's (PBMR's) demonstration plant and pilot fuel plant had almost doubled to R31-billion as a result of inflation and higher materials costs, company chief executive Jaco Kriek said last week. Kriek said the demonstration reactor, which would generate 200 megawatts of heat and 80MW of electricity, was now expected to be commissioned by 2018 - four years later than previously expected. The plant has yet to receive environmental clearance.

"South Africa's Pebble Bed Modular Reactor Ltd., the company that lost government funding after spending a decade trying to develop small nuclear power plants, expects to get $10 million for a U.S. contract. The company is part of a Westinghouse Electric Co. LLC group selected by the U.S. Department of Energy for "conceptual and planning work" for a so-called Next Generation Nuclear Plant, Pebble Bed spokeswoman Lorna Skhosana said in an e-mailed response to queries today. Pebble Bed anticipates "receiving an estimated $10 million" from the deal, she said. "