For and against pebble-bed reactors
FOR: A major reason for the use of nuclear power is the prediction that the world’s electricity demands will double by 2030, and that fossil fuels and renewable energy sources will not be enough. Coal-burning power stations generate 92% of South Africa’s electricity, using enormous amounts of coal. Nuclear energy, however, produces a huge amount of energy from little fuel, without the pollution produced from burning fossil fuels.
For the past 10 years, Eskom has been developing a new nuclear power model for South Africa, the prototype Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR). It functions differently to a typical water reactor (such as that used at Koeberg) in many respects — one being that instead of water, helium is used as a coolant.
The PBMR is seen as a lot safer than most other nuclear power stations. A meltdown is not possible because the system is designed to shut down and cool off if anything goes wrong. A pebble bed reactor can have all of its supporting machinery fail and the reactor will not crack, melt, explode or spew hazardous waste.
AGAINST: If you were given about R12-billion to increase Cape Town’s energy capacity, would you spend it on a new, untested, expensive and potentially dangerous technology?
One Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) will generate 110 megawatts (MW) of electricity. The Kuyasa Housing Pilot Project in Khayelitsha, however, has shown that it is possible to offset generation — in this instance, by finding a way of heating water that does not require electricity generation.
For the cost of one PBMR, 1,2 million houses could have solar water heating, meaning 795MW less that would have to be generated by other means, or by seven PBMRs. A mere R3,4-billion spent on these heaters would offset the same number of MW of the PBMR.
Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs) are more decentralised and do not generate radioactive waste. RETs could boost local manufacturing industries. And independent research commissioned by the Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Project in 2004 clearly shows how more than 50% of South Africa’s total primary energy supply could be drawn from renewable resources by 2050.
