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who we are
 
Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (Pty) Limited (PBMR) was established in 1999 with the intention to develop and market small-scale, high-temperature reactors both locally and internationally.
 
The 700-member PBMR project team is based in Centurion near Pretoria, South Africa.
 
The PBMR is a High Temperature Reactor (HTR) with a closed-cycle, gas turbine power conversion system.  Although it is not the only HTR currently being developed in the world, the South African  project is on schedule to be the first commercial scale HTR in the power generation field.  Very high efficiency and attractive economics are possible without compromising the high levels of passive safety expected of advanced nuclear designs.
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what is PBMR?
 
The PBMR essentially comprises:
A steel pressure vessel which holds the enriched uranium dioxide fuel encapsulated in graphite spheres.  The system is cooled with helium and heat is converted into electricity through a turbine.
 
The plant comprises (1) a module building with the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) and the power conversion unit (PCU).
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why PBMR?
 
Safe, clean, cost-competitive, versatile, and adaptable.  These, in a nutshell, are the features of South Africa's Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR).
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project status
 
From a small research and development company with barely 100 employees at its inception in 1999, Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (Pty) Ltd has grown into one of the largest nuclear reactor design teams in the world. In addition to the core team of some 700 people at the PBMR head-office in Centurion near Pretoria, more than a 1000 people at universities, private companies and research institutes are involved with the project.
 
The PBMR team is currently preparing for the building of a commercial scale power reactor project at Koeberg near Cape Town, where Africa’s only nuclear power station is based, and a fuel plant at Pelindaba near Pretoria, where the pebble fuel will be manufactured.
 
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  "The South African PBMR technology will become the world's first successful commercial generation IV reactor."  
  Dr Regis Matzie, senior vice-president and chief technology officer of Westinghouse  
     
     
  how safe is PBMR?  
     
  The PBMR has inherently features as a result of the design, materials used, fuel and physics involved.  
     
  This is why, should a worst-case scenario occur, no human intervention is required in the short or medium term.  
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  making headlines  
     
 
Erwin announces plan for 14 pebble-bed reactors
 - PUBLIC Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin revealed that the state power utility Eskom was planning to open as many as 14 pebble-bed modular reactors (PBMRs) around the country to combat the country‘s dire electricity shortage. This statement was according to a written reply to a parliamentary...
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  news releases  
     
 
PBMR enters into technology development agreement with Stellenbosch University
 - Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) entered into an agreement with Stellenbosch University of South Africa that will enable the University to conduct research and development on behalf of PBMR in areas that will enhance the performance and safety of the world-class reactor. The contract...
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