Visit PBMR   http://www.pbmr.com/ 

(This is a commercial product.  It's best if I let them do the talking.)

PBMR Status Update February 4 2010.pdf 

Mitsubishi Heavy Signs MOU with PBMR Pty on Development of Small-size Nuclear Power Generation Plant

7 February 2010

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (Pty) Ltd (PBMR Pty) of the Republic of South Africa to study the area of collaboration in the development of the helium-cooled, High Temperature Reactor (HTR) Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR).

Based on the MOU, MHI will initially study the area for possible collaboration in the design of 200 MWt (megawatts thermal) plant, which PBMR Pty is currently developing. Going forward, the two companies will also probe further collaboration, including construction of plants and market exploration. With the newly concluded MOU, PBMR development will now move forward toward commercialization of a small size reactor.

MHI did the basic design and research and development of a helium-driven turbo generator system and Core Barrel Assembly, the major components of PBMR’s original 400 MW thermal, direct-cycle design. This concept was changed last year to a 200 MWt design which delivers super-heated steam through a steam generator.

The 200 MWt plant consists of a 200 MWt PBMR and a steam generator that provides hot steam at 750 °C (1,382 °F). The plant uses silicon carbide-coated uranium particles encased in graphite for the fuel spheres and helium as the coolant, making it free from risk of reactor core meltdown. The PBMR requires relatively low initial investment and is considered to be well suited to applications in areas lacking a fully developed power transmission grid.

The 200 MWt design is aimed at steam process heat applications, which provides the basis for penetrating the nuclear heat market as a viable alternative for carbon-burning, high-emission heat sources. In addition to generating electricity, this concept can also service potential customers such as the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) project in the US, which is funded by the US Department of Energy, oil sands producers in Canada and the South African petro-chemical industry. A number of potential customers, including South Africa’s Sasol, have been studying the introduction of the plant, which is targeted to begin operation in approximately year 2020.

Specifically, when collaboration area has been agreed, MHI will conduct part of the research & development activities for the 200 MWt plant design. In the future, further collaboration possibilities will be probed, including construction of the 200 MWt plant and exploring market potential for the PBMR.

PBMR. The PBMR reactor has a vertical steel pressure vessel which contains and supports a metallic core barrel, which in turn supports the cylindrical pebble fuel core. This cylindrical fuel core is surrounded on the side by an outer graphite reflector and on top and bottom by graphite structures which provide similar upper and lower neutron reflection functions. Vertical borings in the side reflector are provided for the reactivity control elements. Two diverse reactivity control systems are provided for shutting the reactor down.

The PBMR uses particles of enriched uranium dioxide coated with silicon carbide and pyrolytic carbon. The particles are encased in graphite to form a fuel sphere or pebble about the size of a billiard ball. The core of the reactor contains approximately 360,000 of these fuel spheres.

Helium, which is used as the coolant, transfers the energy absorbed in the core to a secondary loop through a special heat exchanger. The helium in the primary circuit is circulated by a blower. The secondary side of the steam generator contains water. The heat absorbed changes the water to steam which, in turn, is used to drive a steam turbine connected to a generator to produce electricity in the same way conventional power stations operate. In this configuration, the reactor is an electricity producing plant.

The secondary side of the steam generator may also be directly coupled to a process plant to provide the energy as process heat. In this configuration, the reactor is a pure process heat producing plant. Another possibility is to configure the PBMR into a co-generation plant, i.e. one that produces both electricity and process heat.

Resources

·    PBMR: Product Overview & Source Term Modelling (Nov 2009)

Comments

This article and the companies involved should clearly mention the possibility of producing cheap hydrogen by using heat in a chemical or even electrochemical process. This hydrogen can be combined with CO2 to make methanol, gasoline or diesel. The temperature can be high enough for the direct heat activated production of hydrogen. This reactor type has been demonstrated in China and before that in Germany to have no possibility of reactor explosion due to reactor runaway. ..HG..

http://www.nuc.berkeley.edu/pb-ahtr/  Pebble Bed - Advanced High Temperature Reactor - Liquid Cooled, 410 mWe, 1,300°F

The PBMR project out of South Africa is in the process of a redesign to a module that will provide approximately 200 MW of heat which may convert to 80 MW of electricity in an efficient steam plant. The pebble bed modules would be cooled by helium circulated with blowers through a steam generator; the pebbles themselves are billiard ball sized graphite spheres that contain about 9 grams of coated uranium dioxide particles enriched to about 9.8%. The pebbles are slowly circulated through the core, which resembles a tall bucket of balls.  -- Rod Adams, Blog, Sep 30, 2009
 

South Africa and China Join Forces in Commercialization of Pebble Bed Technology  30 March 2009
Author/Source: PBMR Corporate Communications, PBMR 
 

- The advancement of the next generation of nuclear reactors has received a boost with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Beijing on 26 March 2009 between the Chinese and the South African developers of pebble bed technology.

Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (Pty) Ltd (PBMR) of South Africa has been developing the pebble bed technology in parallel with the Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology (INET) of Tsinghua University and Chinergy Co Ltd of China, whose pebble bed concept is based on a 10 MW (thermal) research reactor that was started up in Beijing in December 2000 and achieved full power operation in January 2003. INET is a top nuclear research and experimental institute in China.

The MOU, based on mutual respect and appreciation for the developments achieved by both countries to date, is designed to facilitate cooperation on identified areas of common interest. South Africa and China hope to pursue collaboration in a number of strategic and technical areas relating to high temperature reactor (HTR) projects in both countries.

Prof Zhang Zouyi, Director of INET, says the MOU will create a strategic environment for the two parties to work together. He added that the MOU was the result of natural synergies between the South African and Chinese HTR project teams, which were highlighted at an HTR conference in Washington DC in 2008. The Washington meeting was followed by a visit to South Africa by representatives from INET and Chinergy Co Ltd, earlier in 2009, in order to devise a framework for cooperation.

PBMR CEO Jaco Kriek welcomed the collaboration with China. He said the MOU will create interesting opportunities for the future commercialization of the technology and strengthen supply chains in both countries, with the support of both the Chinese and South African governments. As emerging economies, both South Africa and China have extensive energy requirements, with an emphasis on increasing nuclear energy as part of the energy mix.

“While the two projects have chosen slightly different technical approaches, we both fully believe that high temperature, gas-cooled reactors using pebble fuel offer the best potential for sustainable, clean, reliable and safe sources of energy globally,” says Kriek. He added that China’s commitment to the technology, along with the ongoing PBMR project, further demonstrates the potential for advanced reactor technologies with passive, inherently safe characteristics.

“The pebble bed technology will bring a a new option to the energy market in the near future which offers flexible, smart grid solutions for electricity, customer-centric process heat and steam solutions for petrochemical industries, oil sands extraction and desalination. It will also pave the way to high temperature hydrogen production.”

South Africa and China are widely recognized as world leaders in the field of high temperature reactor design. Both South African and Chinese technologies use the same pebble fuel concept as a source of heat. The first commercial-scale plant (HTR-PM) in China will make use of indirect cycle, steam turbine systems, while PBMR has been developing a direct cycle gas turbine system. The HTR-PM features two 250 MW (thermal) reactor modules and a 210 MW (electric) steam turbine-generator set.

Recently, PBMR has also been involved in technology development work on indirect cycle, steam turbine systems, in response to growing interest from the process heat and cogeneration markets both locally and abroad. This near-term change in emphasis is causing much global interest and the company is in extensive discussions with a number of countries to exploit the technology effectively, whilst significantly mitigating licensing complexity.

PBMR’s most recent achievement is the successful manufacturing of coated particles which form the basis of high temperature reactor fuel containing 9.6% enriched uranium.

About INET

The Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology of Tsinghua University was founded in 1960 as a top nuclear research and experimental base in China. In the last fifty years, it has become a comprehensive research center with multi-disciplinary research, design and engineering projects mainly in nuclear technology. To further broaden academic disciplines of the institute, the full official name was changed into the Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology (INET), in September 2003.

INET includes seventeen research divisions, four research centers and several workshops. Since it was founded, INET has set up a twin-core swimming-pool type Experimental Shielding Reactor, a 5 MW Nuclear Heating Reactor (NHR-5) and a 10 MW High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor (HTR-10). INET's research fields cover a wide spectrum related to nuclear, chemical, environmental and energy sciences. There are around 500 faculty and staff members and over 200 graduate students.


About CHINERGY

The Chinergy Co. Ltd (Chinergy) was founded in 2003 as a hi-tech enterprise. It is joint investment by China Nuclear Engineering & Construction Corporation(CNEC),Tsinghua Holding Co., Ltd. (THHC) and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co. Ltd.(CGNPC).

The main business of Chinergy is industrialization of nuclear energy and technology, serving as the general contractor for projects. The core technologies of Chinergy are the Module High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor (MHTGR) and Nuclear Heating Reactor (NHR).

PBMR
(Westinghouse, PBMR Ltd.)
Synonyms: Pebble Bed Modular Reactor
Approximate Capacity (electric): 165 MWe
Reactor Type: High temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR)
NRC Design Certification Status: Pre-application review
Supporting Generating Companies (potential site): The design has no U.S. generating company sponsor.  The PBMR is supported by the South African utility Eskom for development in South Africa
The PBMR uses helium as a coolant and is part of the HTGR family of reactors. PBMR development is thus a product of a lengthy history of research, notably in Germany and the United States. More recently the design has been promoted and revised by PBMR Ltd., an affiliate of the South African utility Eskom. Westinghouse is a minority investor in PBMR Ltd. and has taken a leading role in U.S. design certification.  The PBMR design is presently in a “pre-certification” status with the NRC.  Prototype variations on the PBMR design now operate in China and Japan.  Eskom has also received administrative approval to build a prototype PBMR in South Africa.  If the prototype is successful, Eskom has stated it intends to build several follow on units. There is no U.S. generating company sponsor of the design.  At around 165 MWe the PBMR would be one of the smaller reactors now proposed for the commercial market. This is considered a marketing advantage by some because small reactors require lower initial capital investments than larger new units.  Several PBMRs could be built at a single site as local power demand requires. The NRC also does not claim the same familiarity with the PBMR design that it has with light water reactors (PWR and BWR).  Fuels used in the PBMR would be more highly enriched than the uranium is now used in light water reactor designs. China and South Africa have also discussed cooperation in PBMR efforts.
Further Information:  http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-licensing/design-cert/pbmr.html http://www.pbmr.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pebble_bed_modular_reactor http://www.nei.org/index.asp?catnum=3&catid=707