WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2010-04-05 Time: 06:00:16 Posted By: News Poster
By Siseko Njobeni
Johannesburg – UNLESS a major investor comes along, the government’s decision not to inject more money into the pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR) project marks the beginning of the end for it.
When it was first mooted in SA, PBMR technology promised a safe, clean and cheaper source of electricity. The high-temperature reactor technology has been an attractive option, especially for coastal areas that are far from the coal-fired power stations in the interior.
Eskom incurs large costs in extending its transmission system. In the year ended March 31 last year, Eskom installed 418km of transmission lines. Hence its interest in PBMR technology, which would reduce transmission line lengths.
The utility is a major shareholder in PBMR Ltd. State- owned financier the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and US-based nuclear group Westinghouse also have stakes.
When the government set up PBMR Ltd in 1999 to develop and market the reactors, SA was well on its way to becoming the first to commercialise the next generation of nuclear reactors. The project was also a good foundation for a nuclear industry.
Since its establishment, PBMR has always been able to count on government support. The political will to realise the project could not be faulted. On several occasions, former public enterprises minister Alec Erwin shielded the project from fierce criticism. Many had criticised the government’s continued investment in a project they saw as pie in the sky. But Erwin said the project had been factored into SA’s future energy planning.
But the first signs that its future could be hanging by a thread emerged when rumours of staff cuts began doing the rounds earlier this year.
The government and PBMR ended the speculation when they confirmed that the company would be restructured. About 75% of its 800 employees faced retrenchment.
Department of Public Enterprises spokeswoman Ayanda Shezi says the government funding allocation for the project ends at month-end, “and no further funds have been allocated to the company ….
“This is because government’s original funding allocation required that PBMR attract additional investment through investors other than government, and that it secure a customer for its product, both of which it has been unable to do despite its revised business model and product offering.”
The decision has implications for SA’s nuclear reactor building programme . Shezi says an interministerial task team is considering the future of PBMR. That, she says, will ensure that valuable nuclear skills, expertise and technology developed by the company are not lost to SA and are retained for application in a possible future nuclear power generation programme.
“(The government) decision is a great disappointment,” says nuclear expert Kelvin Kemm , a staunch supporter of the project. He says, with the benefit of hindsight, that PBMR did not make clear what it was offering.
“There was talk of 165MW reactors and then it was 80MW. PBMR must clearly state what they will build. From a business point of view, it is important to state what will be built and at what price,” Kemm says.
“I still hope that there will be an investor who will be keen on the project. It is a good technology. I believe that, sooner or later, we will be able to build the reactor. I still feel that SA should built the reactor.”
Original Source: 
Original date published: 2 March 2010
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201003020598.html?viewall=1