The Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) and the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) company on Tuesday signed an agreement for continued research on the nuclear fuel to be used in the first demonstration pebble bed modular reactor.

PBMR CEO Jaco Kriek said that the company was establishing a network of expertise with South African universities to improve designs for the PBMR, and that NMMU was an important node of this network.

Similar agreements had also been signed with Stellenbosch University, the University of Pretoria, the North West University and the University of the Witwatersrand.

Research conducted at the NMMU for PBMR focused on the evaluation of the materials used in the multilayered fuel particles as well as the fuel pebbles. The effects of subatomic particle irradiation damage in the nuclear fuel particles were investigated as well as the effects of nuclear fission and transmutation products that were produced during the operation of the PBMR.

Transmission Electron Microscopy is one of the key techniques used for the research. The Physics Department at NMMU is a leading centre of expertise on Transmission Electron Microscopy and could now acquire the funds for a modern atomic resolution transmission electron microscope at NMMU with the support of PBMR. This microscope will be the first in Africa. A new facility will be erected by NMMU for the TEM, adjacent to the Physics building.

"The first PBMR-NMMU project which started in September 2006, has already been of great benefit to the research activities, equipment and infrastructure of the Physics Department. NMMU is in the fortunate position that the expertise and infrastructure developed during the past 20 years in the Physics Department can now make important contributions to the PBMR programme and nuclear industry in South Africa," said NMMU physicist and professor Jan Neethling.

The university was also already involved in research on the development of the next generation of nuclear fuel to be used in future PBMRs.

Postgraduate students were benefiting greatly by the mutual agreement. The South African cabinet has endorsed a five to ten year plan "to grow a critical research and skills base to support the PBMR programme and a sustainable nuclear industry in South Africa". Attractive nuclear energy bursaries for students from first year to doctorate level were now available and six postgraduate students were already being trained in this field under Neethling's supervision.

PBMR aimed to complete the construction of the first PBMR nuclear reactor in Cape Town and a pilot fuel plant at Pelindaba by 2011, and sell at least 100 pebble-bed reactors during the next ten years. Should this be achieved, it would generate 56 000 jobs locally and boost the country's balance of payments by R23-billion.

The commissioning of the first demonstration pebble bed plant, scheduled for 2014, held promise as one of the solutions to South Africa's power generation problem, and diversify the current coal-heavy generation mix.

The PBMR is an advanced new generation nuclear reactor design using helium gas heated to nominally 900°C in the reactor core to drive a turbine, which then generates electricity. Heat generated by this reactor can also be used to desalinate seawater and produce hydrogen from water. Hydrogen is envisioned to be a future environmentally friendly fuel for vehicles.