SA was the world leader in small modular reactors before the project was shelved in 2010. Now the technology is making a comeback. From Moneyweb.
SA’s Koeberg Power Station in the Cape is Africa’s sole producer of nuclear energy, but that is about to change for a power-hungry continent searching for clean, cheap energy.
South Africa was a world leader in the development of small modular reactors (SMRs), such as the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR), a project shelved in 2010 under then President Jacob Zuma.
Read: Pebble bed nuclear reactor gets a reboot
SA Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) is in the process of dusting off and assuming control of this project from Eskom. China and Russia are believed to be operating the only working prototypes of SMRs, though several African countries have shown interest.
Necsa is determined that SA should not be left out of this race. Key among Necsa’s future projects is the return to service of SMRs, whether in the form of the PBMR or the nearly 80 competing designs for small and micro nuclear generators capable of churning out anything from 20 to 300 megawatts. These are ideal for SA because they can operate outside Eskom’s grid, servicing small areas such as farms, industrial parks or data centres. Necsa and Eskom are exploring ways to repurpose ageing coal power stations as sites for SMRs, which could use existing Eskom infrastructure and transmission grids.
Read/listen: SA could have a new nuclear reactor by 2027
The Safari reactor – once used to enrich uranium for SA’s atomic bomb, which was dismantled in the 1990s – has turned Necsa into a world leader in the production of medical isotopes used in the treatment of cancer. But it is reaching the end of its useful life and will have to be replaced with a multi-purpose reactor with the capacity to produce energy, heat, and isotopes.
Speaking at a media presentation on Monday, Necsa CEO Loyiso Tyabashe outlined the progress the state-owned company had made in returning to profitability and detailed ambitious plans for the future that will require roughly R50 billion in capex – some of it to replace the nearly 60-year-old Safari reactor that is scheduled to reach the end of its life in 2030, but which will likely be kept in service for a few years longer.
The dilemma facing SA is the rising costs of feeding fuel-burning turbines to keep the grid steady. Last year, primary energy costs feeding these open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs) increased 11% while production declined by 2%. That’s an unsustainable model, though Eskom expects to use these turbines less in 2025.
Nuclear costs R1.13/MW, compared to R5.51/MW for coal, R65.79 for Eskom-owned OCGTs, and around R20 for renewables. The commercial case favours nuclear, which has the added benefit of ticking the decarbonisation box.
Africa embraces nuclear energy
Egypt is currently collaborating with the Russian nuclear power giant Rosatom to construct a 4 000 megawatt power plant. Ghana issued a tender in 2024 for a nuclear power plant of its own, while other African countries such as Burkina Faso, Mali, Burundi, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe are exploring the potential for similar nuclear power plants with the Russians.
Koeberg accounts for about 5% of SA’s energy needs and supplies roughly half the Western Cape’s grid.
While SA prevaricated over nuclear energy as a potential solution to its energy needs, other countries with less nuclear experience were not so taciturn and were quick to snatch up SA expertise. Among the relative newcomers to nuclear energy are the Czech Republic, Iran, Mexico, and Romania, with UAE and Belarus among the more recent additions.
Read: South Africa begins search for new reactor to sustain Molybdenum-99 output
The first functioning unit of the UAE’s Barakah Nuclear Power Plant was constructed with the help of about 150 South African professionals. Many other South African nuclear experts ended up in companies like US-based X-energy, a nuclear reactor and fuel design engineering company.
Progress
Tyabashe outlined the progress the state-owned Necsa had made in returning to profitability and detailed ambitious plans for the future that will require roughly R50 billion in capex – some of it to replace the nearly 60-year-old Safari reactor, which is scheduled to reach the end of its life in 2030 but will likely be kept in service for a few years longer.
Necsa recorded revenue of R2.7 billion in the last financial year, about half of that in foreign currency. It reported profits of close to R150 million in each of the last two financial years, reversing the losses of the prior two years.
Necsa is a state-owned company and a vital repository of nuclear intellectual property built up since the 1948 formation of the Atomic Energy Board. Tyabashe says he is particularly pleased with the improved financial and operational results since embarking on a “return to basics” revamp several years ago. All companies within the group are improving, with 93% of key performance targets being attained.
There is also better news from the Auditor General, with Necsa transitioning from disclaimers to unqualified audits.
Another South African nuclear company on the move
In the same week, former Necsa chair Kelvin Kemm, now chair of Stratek Global, which develops advanced nuclear power solutions, announced a strategic partnership with Groupe Albatros of France to push the development and deployment of SA-developed SMRs across Africa and the Middle East.
Read: Is South Africa assisting Iran on the nuclear front?
Says Kemm: “The Stratek Global consortium has spent decades developing an extremely advanced nuclear reactor which crucially does not need a large body of water to operate. Currently, worldwide, a limitation of most nuclear power plants is that they need to use the ocean for cooling or a very large lake. We can put our HTMR-100 reactor absolutely anywhere, water or no water.
“An additional advantage of these small reactors is that up to 10 can be placed on one site. Yet another advantage is that reactors can be added at any time, as the demand dictates, or the finances allow.”
