Production in 2015 was 47 tU, also stockpiled. Soon after, US utility PECO (later Exelon, following the merger with Commonwealth Edison) took a 12.5% stake. A new concept is for an advanced high-temperature reactor of 150 MWe to be deployed in the 2030s, with a 50 MWe pilot plant built in the mid-2020s. Electricity consumption in South Africa has been growing rapidly since 1980 and the country is part of the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), with extensive interconnections. In 2006, Uranium Oned obtained its mining right for the Dominion Reefs project at Haartebeesfontein, 20 km east of Klerksdorp in the North West province,160 km southwest of Johannesburg. It produces over 600 tonnes U3O8 per year from uranium slurries such as ammonium diuranate (yellowcake) trucked in from various gold mines and the Palabora copper mine. In March 2013 Westinghouse signed a cooperation agreement with Necsa on development of local facilities for fuel assembly components. PBMR (Pty) Ltd. website (www.pbmr.co.za) Having been a foundation member of the IAEA in 1957, South Africa is the only country to develop nuclear weapons and voluntarily give them up. asks Leonie Joubert. Klerksdorp, Welkom, Carltonville, Parys and Evander are towns also on its fringes, associated with gold mines. The mine would form part of the company’s Cooke underground operations, but in August 2013 Sibanye Gold Ltd (spun off from Goldfields in February 2013) bought the whole Cooke operation, with all of the underground and surface plant, and including the dumps. In South Africa, Eskom led to a partnership for more than 30 years, from the construction of the Koeberg power plant. The first sales contract for 680 tonnes was announced in November 2006. However, the learning experience through the construction of a fleet of six reactors may tend to reduce this. Early in 2011 Areva stepped up its involvement with the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (Necsa), and early in 2013 Rosatom declared its interest in bidding. The provincial government in July 2009 approved construction of a large new tailings storage facility for MWS, and a new plant was due to be commissioned in 2014. The South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) is a state corporation established from the AEC under the Act, and is responsible for most nuclear energy matters including wastes and safeguards, but not power generation. Early in June Eskom ceded control of the new build programme to the Department of Energy. The mine was then put on care and maintenance. South Africa’s energy plan lists Eskom as the owner and operator of the 9 600 megawatts of nuclear-powered generating units that are to be built by 2030. In 2014, 69 tonnes of by-product uranium from Cooke was stockpiled. Three further agreements in December were between Necsa and China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) to establish a cooperative partnership supporting the country’s nuclear industry, between China’s State Nuclear Power Technology Corp (SNPTC), the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China and South Africa's Standard Bank Group with a view to financing new nuclear plants, and between Necsa and SNPTC for training South African nuclear professional staff. HTMR Ltd and HTMR Asia Development Ltd are designing the HTMR-100, a 35 MWe (100 MWt) pebble bed HTR for electricity or process heat. Beisa North has inferred resources of 13,630 tU at 0.09%U. Uranium production in South Africa has generally been a by-product of gold or copper mining. The South African nuclear industry dates back to the mid-1940s, when the predecessor organisation to the Atomic Energy Corporation (AEC) was formeda. The LCOE of a generation plant is the average cost per kWh unit of electricity delivered over its lifetime, which will recover the full costs, including the initial investment, cost of capital (including dividends and interest), fuel, and all other fixed and variable operating and maintenance costs. "height": "300", With the end of operating life of Safari in sight, proposals have been for the Dedicated Isotope Production Reactor (DIPR) and, with more probability, a new research reactor which includes isotope production among other roles. Nuclear. "distance": "0" Department of Energy, Integrated Energy Plan (IEP), November 2016 In March 2014 it was reported that China’s main nuclear power companies were lining up to bid for a $93 billion contract to build six reactors by 2030. Uranium One sold it in April 2010 for $37 million to Shiva Uranium, a 74% subsidiary of Oakbay Resources & Energy Ltd, which is 85% Indian-owned. First Uranium Corp of Canada, built a US$ 55 million uranium processing plant at Ezulwini gold-uranium mine in the West Rand, 40 km southwest of Johannesburg, which has 3200 tU in measured and indicated resources and 85,000 tU inferred resources. Nuclear power in South Africa was constructed in the 1980s, and has served South Africa well for the last 30 years. In June 2019 the mine was put up for auction. At this time, the USA stopped exporting highly enriched uranium (HEU) fuel for the Safari-1 reactor in protest against the construction of Y-Plant and South Africa's nuclear weapons programme. The country's Integrated Resources Plan (IRP) 2018 states that the 1.8 GWe of capacity at Koeberg is expected to operate until 2045-2047. However, on 2 June 2015, Zizamele Mbambo, Deputy Director-General of Nuclear at the Department of Energy, confirmed that Eskom had approached government and said that in its EE Publishers considers this capacity factor to be unrealistic based on international experience and local experience at Koeberg, with a more realistic capacity factor considered to be 88%. The gas turbine would produce 40% of the power, the steam cycle 60%. The government plans to extend Koeberg’s operating life beyond 40 years, and Eskom solicited tenders for six new steam generators to be installed at Koeberg about 2017-18, aligned with planned maintenance. South Africa supplements its electricity supply by importing around 9,000 GWh per year from the Cahora Bassa hydroelectric generation station in Mozambique via the 1,920 MW Cahora Bassa high-voltage direct current transmission system of which 1500 MW is sold to South Africa. Comments section policy: MyBroadband has a new article comments policy which aims to encourage constructive discussions. The main part of the plant, part of a $280 million recommissioning project, was completed and the first uranium produced in May 2009. 2 Changing full -load hours for new build options drastically changes the fixed cost components per kWh (lower full load hours higher capital costs and fixed O&M costs per kWh); Assumptions: Average efficiency for CCGT = 55%, OCGT = 35%; nuclear = 33%; IRP costs from Jan-2012 escalated to May-2016 with CPI; assumed EPC CAPEX inflated by 10% to convert EPC/LCOE Eskom will continue to proceed with its request for proposals at the 9.6 GWe level, and anticipates levelised generation cost of R 1000/MWh. The government is concerned to protect the intellectual property involved. (Originally fuel for Koeberg was imported, but at the height of sanctionsc the AEC was asked to set up and operate conversion, enrichment and fuel manufacturing services.) It was the first such mission to a country with established nuclear power, and was valuable. Moving either coal or electricity long distance is inefficient, so it was decided in the mid-1970s to build some 1800 MWe of nuclear capacity at Koeberg near Cape Town. (Driefontein has six operating shaft systems and three metallurgical plants, and operates at depths of 700 m to 3400 m below surface. The deposit had been discovered by Esso in the 1970s. A draft environmental impact report (EIR) was published in March 2010 recommending the Thyspunt site in Eastern Cape province near Oyster Bay, Jeffrey’s Bay and a few kilometres west of Cape St Francis. Less uranium is needed to produce the same amount of energy as coal or oil, which lowers the cost of producing the same amount of energy. The updated draft IRP published in November 2016 revised downwards the nuclear build target in its base case to 6.8 GWe coming online 2037 to 2041, and 20.4 GWe by 2050 when nuclear contributes 30% of electricity from 14% of capacity, compared with coal 31% from 18%. Funding would be decided following responses to this, and would be in line with IRP 2010. Reuse of World Nuclear Association Content. An IAEA Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR) mission was undertaken early in 2013 to evaluate the status of the country’s nuclear infrastructure development. In August 2009, PBMR (Pty) shipped 16 graphite spheres (containing 9.6%-enriched fuel particles) to Russia for irradiation tests to demonstrate the fuel’s integrity under reactor conditions. A 1200 tU/yr conversion plant was established and ran in the 1980-90s. Based on an estimated overnight capital cost of $50-billion (including owners development costs but excluding interest during construction) for a 9,6 GW nuclear fleet with a net output of 6 x 1082 MW using Rosatom VVER 1200 reactors, an overnight cost of $5776 per kW net output is calculated. Since then, numerous proposals have been put forward for new capacity, as outlined below. Eskom supplies about 95% of South Africa's electricity and approximately 45% of Africa's. Nearly half of its enrichment is from Tenex, in Russia. Peninsula held a 74% interest in the project, the remaining 26% is held by black economic development partners. Many of the tailings dams and dumps are being re-treated to recover gold and sometimes uranium. The energy ministry said that the agreement "initiates the preparatory phase for a possible utilization of Chinese nuclear technology in South Africa." In 1959, the government approved the creation of a domestic nuclear industry and planning began the next year on building a research reactor, in cooperation with the US Atoms for Peace programme. FY 2012 production (to end March) was 34 tU. In March 2016 Eskom submitted site licence applications to NNR for both Thyspunt and Duynefontein to construct and operate "multiple nuclear installations (power reactors) and associated auxiliary nuclear installations. However, Eskom is under the Department of Public Enterprises. [Back], 2. A new study by EE Publishers looks at the initial capital cost as well as the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) generated by the proposed 9,6 GW new-nuclear build in South Africa. It is estimated that around 70% of the cost of nuclear power comes from the initial construction. In October 2017 the Department of Environmental Affairs authorised 4000 MWe nuclear capacity to be built at either site. }. In March 2010, the government drastically cut funding for the PBMR, then in September 2010 it announced that all funding was to be cut. In October 2017 Anglo Gold Ashanti announced that it was selling assets in the Vaal River region to Harmony Gold Mining for $300 million. Southern African Power Pool Statistics 2016 [Back], 3. The document also called for the completion of a 20-year operating lifetime extension at the Koeberg plant to ensure continued energy security beyond 2024, ensuring security of supply. So said President Thabo Mbeki in his recent State of the Nation address. So why is government’s new energy plan biased towards expensive nuclear plants, and leaving renewable sources as an afterthought? The irradiation tests, conducted by the Institute of Nuclear Materials in Zarechny near Ekaterinburg, were the final step in the development of the fuel for the PBMR demonstration unit. In 2006, BNFL's 15% stake was transferred to its Westinghouse subsidiary, which was later sold to Toshiba. The weapons programme was terminated by President F. W. de Klerk in 1990 and, in 1991, the country signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Ammonium diuranate (‘yellowcake’) is the final product of the South Uranium Plant and is transported to Nufcor (located in Gauteng) where the material is calcined and the U3O8 packed for shipment to the converters. Am I taking on too much debt? It has been fully demolished. This Z-Plant began commissioning in 1984, with full production in 1988. Shiva resumed uranium production early in 2011, but since then only gold has been produced while uranium workings are developed with a view to substantial production. { It already costs less than power produced by nuclear plants and renewable energy is set to become even cheaper. The cost of the expansion ranged from $34bn to $84bn, a … In addition to the R9.244 billion ($1.3 billion) already invested in the project over the previous decade, a further R30 billion ($4.2 billion) or more was needed. [Back]. Reliability When a nuclear power plant is functioning properly, it can run uninterrupted for up to 540 days. First Uranium had been building a larger $260 million uranium processing plant at the Buffelsfontein gold mine in the North West province, 160 km from Johannesburg and within the Klerksdorp gold field of the Witwatersrand basin. Some 16,000 tU resources were estimated on historic basis at 0.1% grade. The project has consistently missed deadlines. Overnight capital cost per kW of net output. Both centrifuge and molecular laser isotope processes were also being explored. Years back, nuclear energy was a fancy option limited to the industrialized world. In 1963, the Nuclear Installations Act provided for licensing and in 1982 the Nuclear Energy Act made the AEC responsible for all nuclear matters including enrichment. Any new nuclear build programme in South Africa would use Generation II or III technology. Production commenced early in 2007 and was planned to increase to 1730 t/yr U3O8 by 2011. In July 2016 Sibanye Gold said that over 17 months the Cooke 4 operation had failed to meet production and cost targets, and losses had accumulated. For comparative purposes, the EE Publishers study calculates the base LCOE as at May 2016 using the same methodology and general assumptions at the 2013 Draft IRP Update Report, but updating the initial overnight capital cost, and taking into account three years of inflation and significant variation in the rate-of-exchange. Eskom website (www.eskom.co.za) State Owned Enterprises page on the Department of Public Enterprises website (www.dpe.gov.za) The plant is 60 km west of Johannesburg, adjacent to West Rand mines, in Gauteng province. Power generation Nuclear technologies Coal technologies Natural gas technologies Renewable technologies Storage battery technologies . Proposals should specify reactor design, the degree of localization, financing, and price. The Beisa mine had been closed in 1984 by the predecessor of Goldfields. The WACC used in the 2013 Draft IRP Update report is 8% real, and this has also been used in the EE Publishers study to calculate the base LCOE. The South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (NECSA) was formed out of the AEC in 1999. There are about 400 tailings dams and dumps arising from gold mining in the Witwatersrand area of Gauteng province, and much of the available uranium today is in these. It will produce water solely for the plant initially. In December 2016 the SA Council for Geoscience confirmed the geological and geotechnical suitability of Thyspunt. In early 2016 the company completed a feasibility study on the project. Z-Plant was uneconomic and closed in 1995. The Namakwa Henkries uranium project in the Northern Cape province is being explored by Namakwa Uranium, which is now owned 74% by Aarvark Uranium Ltd and 26% by the company's black economic development partner, Gilstra Exploration. Apart from coal, which contributed around 69% to the total primary energy supply in 2016, South Africa gets energy locally from biomass, such as wood and dung, natural gas, hydro-power, nuclear power, solar power and wind. Fuel fabrication was to be in partnership with the new nuclear plant vendor, commissioning in 2023-25. Cooke 4 is a 1634 m deep mine adjacent to Ezulwini plant, and a separate part of the operation. "end": "2019", How much will I need to borrow from the bank? According to our The DOE South Africa has stipulated that the data included in the IRP must be obtained from an independent source. There is a range of fuel options involving uranium, thorium, and reactor-grade plutonium, with slow single pass of TRISO fuel pebbles giving higher burn-up. Five countries, South Korea, France, Russia, US, and China have bid to supply the reactors. The pressure vessel would be concrete, fuel would be pebbles. The original concept was for a 400 MWt direct (Brayton) cycle unit, but later a 200 MWt (80 MWe) steam cycle version was proposed. In August 2008, the nuclear safety director of the Department of Minerals and Energy announced that Eskom would seek commercial arrangements to reprocess its used fuel overseas and utilize the resulting mixed oxide (MOX) fuel. As this would vary depending on the proposals from the different vendor countries, the LCOE in the EE Publishers study has also been presented using alternative assumptions of overnight capital cost per kW of net output, ranging from $4000 to $8000. "start": "1970", Development of it is aiming for 1.15 enrichment factor and less than 500 kWh/SWU (compared with about 10,000 kWh/SWU in the Z-plant). Government spending had to be reprioritized in the light of the economic downturn. "base": "//reactordb.world-nuclear.org", Much of the high-enriched uranium is stored. "primary": "operational_reference_unit_power", The MLIS programme started in 1983 and was joined by Cogema of France in a 50:50 funding arrangement in 1995. Initial feasibility studies on the re-establishment of nuclear fuel cycle programmes were completed in 2011. In the field of power generation, a planning tool known as the levelised cost of... Relevance. In 1996, South Africa signed the African Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Treaty – also called the Pelindaba Treaty. Chinese industry officials in December 2015 expressed confidence in securing the $80 billion order for CAP1400 units, though the first of these in China was not yet under construction. Uranium and molybdenum mineralisation is hosted in fluvial channel sandstone deposits chiefly in the western and central parts of the Main Karoo basin. Both are major gold producers.). It is about 10 km east of Klerksdorp, and has some 21,000 tU as proven and probable reserves in old mine tailings, some near Stilfontein – its Mine Waste Solutions (MWS) project. "left": "80", The Pelindaba site near Pretoria was established in 1961, and the 20 MWt Safari-1 reactor there went critical in 1965b. The mine, at the western end of the main Witwatersrand gold orebody, produced uranium in the 1980s, though its Cooke section had only been mined for gold. How much will I need to put down myself? "settings": { As with any large infrastructure development project, it is important to understand clearly upfront the total... Levelised cost of electricity. OKB Gidropress and NIAEP-ASE subsequently presented the VVER-TOI design as appropriate, each unit 1255 MWe gross, 1115 MWe net. AngloGold Ashanti acquired the operation for $335 million in mid-2012. Sibanye issued Gold One with about 150 million shares, some 17% of the company. This will leave it with the Mponeng mine and Mine Waste Solutions (MWS) surface operations, which constitute less than 15% of the company's annual production. The South African energy sector is dominated by coal, which is plentiful and cheap, and is ranked among the lowest energy costs in the world. In September 2014 Rosatom signed an agreement with South Africa’s energy minister to advance the prospect of building up to 9.6 GWe of nuclear capacity by 2030. The Ryst Kuil channel is the focus of ongoing exploration. Uranium is produced at Vaal River by processing the reef material from Moab Khotsong, Great Noligwa and Kopanang, all next to to the Buffelsfontein mine. This cost has been quoted between 6 and 8 billion dollars per reactor, which is huge when compared to other renewable and nonrenewable energies. Selling nuclear technology is part of an effort by Russia to build influence, power and trade across Africa, with growing involvement in nations across the continent. }, In September 2010, the Minister of Public Enterprises announced that the government would stop investing in the PBMR5. Some of the resources in the Ryst Kuil channel have molybdenum byproduct. In 2002, the country signed the Additional Protocol in relation to its safeguards agreements with the IAEA. The Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) has overall responsibility for nuclear energy and administers the above Acts. The Koeberg plant was built by Framatome (now Areva) and commissioned in 1984-85. "filtered": { It would consider all options, including small modular reactors. Following cabinet approval in December 2015, the Department of Energy issued its request for proposals (RFP) for 9600 MWe of nuclear power capacity. China’s Ministry of Commerce reported that negotiations towards a nuclear cooperation agreement were proceeding. Which hosting company do you use to host your websites? Using the assumptions of the Integrated Resource Plan for Electricity IRP2010-2030 and the 2013 Draft IRP Update Report, and the other assumptions detailed above, and without taking tax effects, decommissioning, long-term waste disposal, and plant life extension costs into account, an up-to-date base LCOE for the proposed new-nuclear build in South Africa would be R1,30  per kWh. The company said it might construct a uranium plant at Beatrix or ship all the uranium north to be processed at the Cooke 4 Ezulwini plant in West Rand. In December 2012, the draft Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill was approved. In mid-2013 a nuclear cooperation agreement was signed with the EU, to support research, with PBMR and medical isotopes mentioned. An August 2013 application for federal US funds from National Project Management Corporation (NPMC) in the USA was for an HTR of 165 MWe, apparently the earlier direct-cycle version of the PBMR, emphasising its ‘deep burn’ attributes in destroying actinides and achieving high burn-up at high temperatures. [Back], b.The Safari-1 (South African Fundamental Atomic Research Installation) reactor initially operated at 6.75 MW and was upgraded to 20 MW in 1968. Ore from the uranium section at Cooke 3 is hoisted separately and trucked to the Ezulwini gold-uranium plant for treatment. We will test the market to ascertain the true cost of building modern nuclear plants. Areva suspended the project at the end of 2011, and in April 2014 it was acquired by Peninsula Energy to form part of the Karoo project. In May 2014 Sibanye sent its first consignment, of 10 tonnes ammonium diuranate, from Ezulwini/Cooke to Nufcor for calcining to U3O8. The agreement refers only to what Russia could provide if chosen.” Rusatom Overseas confirmed the likelihood of a Russian government loan, and said that the build-own-operate (BOO) model was preferable. In its 2010 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) the South African government proposal for 9.6GW of new nuclear power to be added to the country’s grid by 2030. Also, around the same time, BNFL reduced its stake to 15%, and IDC reduced its to 13%. "terms": { This results in fewer brownouts or other power interruptions. Production at 1000 tU/yr was envisaged, but Randfontein Surface Operations (RSO) became part of the Cooke underground operations of Sibanye by about 2013. The environmental impact assessment (EIA) process initiated earlier in 2006 confirmed the selection of three possible sites for the next nuclear power units: Thyspunt, Bantamsklip, and Duynefontein, the last of which is very near the existing Koeberg nuclear plant. It has now received in-principle financial support from the American government to build a nuclear power station in South Africa. The true cost of nuclear power in South Africa Context. Construction of the Y-Plant pilot uranium enrichment plant commenced in 1971 and was completed in 1975 by UCOR. Then, on procedural grounds, in April 2017 the Western Cape high court set aside the intergovernmental nuclear cooperation agreements with Russia, USA and South Korea, along with approvals by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) of two ministerial determinations concerning the procurement of 9600 MWe of nuclear capacity. Eskom is managing the PBMR assets. Uranium is also less expensive to procure and transport, which further lowers the cost. Kloof is an intermediate to ultra-deep level mine with operating depths of between 1300 m and 3500 m below surface. ), Although PBMR (Pty) Ltd continued to list its investors as the South African government, IDC, Westinghouse and Eskom, its funding following the completion of the feasibility stage in 2004 was principally from the South African government (through its Department of Public Enterprises). If this higher and likely more realistic figure is used, the base LCOE calculated increases from R1,30 per kWh to R1,52 per kWh i.e. "status": "operable", The EE Publishers study estimates an initial overnight capital cost (including owner’s development costs, but excluding interest during construction) of the 9,6 GW new-nuclear build at US $50-billion (R776-billion at a rate of exchange of $1 = R14). Gold One planned to recommission the Ezulwini plant by March 2013, to treat both gold and uranium separately.