Nuclear build will support large-scale industrial activity

20th February 2015

By: Schalk Burger

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

  

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A programme to build new nuclear generation capacity will require the involvement of large parts of the industrial capacity of South Africa, which will require and support large-scale industrial activity and, subsequently, provide surplus electricity to support future industrial growth.

This is the view of a panel of experts from Russian State-owned nuclear vendor Rosatom and the North-West University (NWU) mechanical and nuclear engineering school.

Rosatom sub-Saharan Africa VP Viktor Polikarpov notes that most of the components required for any new nuclear power stations will have to be produced in South Africa, and sufficient local capacity is required to ensure that the country has access to local nuclear skills and components.

“Only the (Rosatom-designed pressurised- water) VVER reactors will come from Russia. The rest of the components will be produced locally, which will also boost the development of industrial skills that will improve the country’s economy and [help achieve] job creation objectives.

Further, our nuclear build process aims to develop nuclear clusters within the industries of the countries where we work to ensure sustainability of the industry and the nuclear plants. This growth in skills, industrial capacity and subsequent electricity surplus bolsters the industrialisation of countries building nuclear generation fleets,” he emphasises.

Companies participating in nuclear build programmes will also be qualified to produce and export nuclear-certified components to the rest of the world for use in electricity generation and high-technology industries.

NWU mechanical and nuclear engineering school director Professor Harry Wichers notes that nuclear power can replace heavily polluting coal-fired generation to provide baseload electricity, which will also be exported to other Southern African Development Community countries, as Southern African countries are increasingly integrating their power grids.

“Coal-fired power generation sends significant amounts of radioactive materials into the air, as coal contains radioactive materials and metals, including uranium. Thus, a nuclear power station produces far less radiation than a coal-fired power station,” he explains.

Polikarpov notes that the amount of fuel required to produce 1 GW of electricity from coal is 2.7-million tons, while only 24 t of uranium is required to produce the same amount of energy from nuclear.

“The coal can then be exported or used for other industrial [purposes], including steel production, which would reduce the country’s trade deficit and boost the local economy.”

NWU nuclear engineering programme manager Dr Anthonie Cilliers says that South Africa has a small but internationally respected corps of nuclear scientists and engineering experts in the country and has significant collaboration with international nuclear nations, including Russia, the US, South Korea, China, France and Spain.

“Our strong links to international centres of nuclear research and excellence and our close collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency provide a good grounding for youths entering the nuclear industry and for South African industries,” he says.

NWU is also offering nuclear medicine courses, specifically on applied radiation to produce radioisotopes and in the development of radiological equipment and techniques. NWU has close cooperation ties with the State-owned Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa, based at Pelindaba, in the North West province.

Department of Science and Technology Hydrogen South Africa (HySA) infrastructure centre director Dr Dmitri Bessarabov says: “HySA has established good relationships with some of the top Russian research centres affiliated with Rosatom and active work in the area of renewable energy is under way.”

Bessarabov adds that a working group was established last year with Rosatom to explore further collaborative opportunities.

NWU and Rosatom have launched a competition for nuclear engineering and nuclear science students, in which the students must detail how to deal with the country’s current energy deficit and the development of a future nuclear industry.

Winners will be taken to Rosatom sites in Russia, including a nuclear power plant, a nuclear fuel plant, including spent nuclear fuel recycling plants, and other Russian nuclear energy complex sites.

“The aim is to get students interested in nuclear sciences and nuclear engineering. Further, we want to demonstrate to students that there are significant employment opportunities for them inside and outside South Africa in the broader nuclear engineering and applied sciences fields,” concludes Cilliers.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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