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ZS6AFG > FUEL 04.10.07 15:57l 63 Lines 3338 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 1F0071ZS6AFG
Read: GUEST
Subj: South Africas Alternate Fuel
Path: DB0FHN<DB0MRW<DK0WUE<DB0RES<IK2XDE<IW2OAZ<CX2SA<ZS0MEE<ZS6BJU<ZS0DLD<
ZS6MI
Sent: 071004/1322Z @:ZS6MI.PTA.GAU.ZAF.AF #:41187 [Pretoria] $:1F0071ZS6AFG
From: ZS6AFG@ZS6MI.PTA.GAU.ZAF.AF
To : FUEL@WW
Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR)
Part 1 of 3
I have read numerous packet files on the subject of carbon emission, peak
oil demand, vehicle propulsion and wind generation of electrical energy.
I thought it would be interesting to give some insight into the South
Africa`s developement to meet the demand for electrical power, by the use
of nuclear energy, and thereby reduce, or help to reduce the carbon foot
print. The information presented has come from media publications from
reliable scources.
S. Africa`s nuclear design team of 700 people are based in Centurian,
Pretoria, with 1000 people involved in development work at universities,
private companies and research institutions.
How did this position develope?. The location of coal fields, in
Mapumalanga (east & north Transvaal), and in northern KwaZulu-Natal
(Natal). Thermal power generation causes a high carbon foot print and CO2
discharge is upsetting global warming, if one is in agreement with
theories put forward. Power needs in the western Cape, resulted in
Koeberg, on the western coast being built more than 20 years ago. Koeberg
only supplies half the electricity needs of the western Cape, which is
around 1600 km from the main generating region. A large net work of 475
kv transmission lines span this distance. There is a million volt DC line
connecting Eskom`s Appolo substation, south of Pretoria, with Cabora Basa
hydro electric scheme in northern Mozambique. Two hydro electric pump
storage schemes, one in the Drakensberg Mountains,in Natal, and the other
outside Cape Town, with a third hydro electric generator at the Gariep
Dam. The 3 units are mainly for peak load generation. Lasuto
(Basutoland) has a meduim sized hydro generating plant fed from the Katzi
Dam project, which supplies Lasuto requirements, and surplus is sent into
the Eskom grid.
S.A. has an abundance of uranium, a by product from the gold mines, hence
planners considered to build a nuclear reactor. The size would be small
and close to the load. As far back as 1950 and 1960 the principle of gas
cooled reactors had been tested experimentally in Germany and the USA, but
were abandoned.
S.A. is one of the oldest nuclear countries in the world, having entered
into technology in the 1940`s during WW2, when the Allies started to look
for uranium for their nuclear bomb project. The S.A.scientists and
engineers examined the results of the German and USA gas cooled results,
and decided to design a new version from scratch. The result is the
worlds first generation IV nuclear power plant.
The reactor is known as the pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR). The
reactor is a tank filled with pebbles. The pebbles are graphite balls,
about the size of a cricket ball and each ball contains about 9 grams of
uranium. The uranium is in the form of granules the size of sugar grains
and each grain is encapsulated in four layers of ceramic coating. The
heat generated by fission, is removed by helium gas blown through the
pebble bed high pressure vessel and into a gas turbine coupled to an
alternator. The helium is in a closed loop system. The capacity of one
unit is designed for about 165 mW.
73 - ui, ZS6AFG @ ZS6MI
Message timed: 11:30 on 2007-Oct-04
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