Name: Molecular Laser Isotope Separation (MLIS) plant
Other Names:
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Location: Pelindaba East
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Subordinate to: This is a joint project of the AEC and Cogema (French nuclear firm) with Cogema investing 83 million rand (about $20 million) over three years (1996-1998) and AEC supplying the human resources. Size:
Primary function: Molecular laser isotope separation process.
Description: In February 1994, the AEC signed a contract with the Cogema to develop MLIS uranium-enrichment method. In 1996, the AEC and Cogema planned to construct a demonstration-scale MLIS facility, but plans for a new, larger-scale facility were cancelled when the government stated that it would construct a pilot facility within the Z-plant. In November 1997, the AEC and Cogema decided to cancel the program for technical and financial reasons. Although both organizations equally funded the project, reductions in the AEC's budget made it increasingly difficult for it to contribute its share and, thus, to meet Cogema's schedule of having a pilot plant in test operation by the end of 1998.
[Key Sources: "South Africa" Proliferation News and Resources, 1998, <http://cnsinfo.miis.edu/e-DocLibrary/2001/Apr/9/Russia.pdf>; "Nuclear Power and the Nuclear Fuel Cycle: A Review of Overseas Events in 1997, March 1998, http://www.ansto.gov.au/info/reports/qrmar98.html.]
Name: Y-plant
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Location: Velindaba (now Pelindaba East)
This facility is adjacent to the Pelindaba Nuclear Research Center located approximately 35 km west of Pretoria.
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Size: The plant employed a total of 250.
Primary function: The plant, which was originally designed to produce 10-15,000 separative work units (SWUs) annually, was enhanced to produce 20,000 SWUs annually. The facility was a pilot-scale, aerodynamic process enrichment plant that produced highly enriched uranium (HEU) for South Africa's nuclear weapons program. "The enrichment process used the centrifugal effect of spinning uranium hexafluoride and hydrogen gases inside a tube to separate the heavier uranium-238 fraction from the lighter uranium-235 fraction." It produced 45% enriched uranium for the SAFARI research reactor, low enriched uranium (LEU) test assemblies for the Koeberg nuclear power reactors, and LEU blending stock.
Description: The Y-plant consisted of one stripper section and five consecutive enrichment blocks located in three large building called C, D, and E. The plant, authorized to operate at the end of 1974, developed its capacity to produce weapons-grade uranium in March 1977. The initial extraction of HEU occurred in January 1978 and in 1978 and 1979, the material produced by the facility was enriched to only 80%. The facility was temporarily shutdown for a year in August 1979 due to operating problems caused by the loss of enriched material on filters and the remixing of separated material. In 1981, HEU extraction continued, but the removal of partially enriched uranium from the cascade reduced the facility's ability to produce weapon grade material. The facility was closed in 1990, which was the first indication that South Africa's secret weapons program had ended.
[Key Sources: "South Africa's Nuclear Weapons Program: Building Bombs," Federation of American Scientists, 7 September 2001, <http://www.fas.org/nuke/hew/Safrica/SABuildingBombs.html >; Lieutenant Colonel Roy E. Horton III, "Out of (South) Africa: Pretoria's Nuclear Weapons Experience," USAF Institute for National Security Studies, Occasional Paper #27, August 1999,
<http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/rsa/nuke/ocp27.htm>; Ruchita Beri, "South Africa's Nuclear Policy," Strategic Analysis, Vol. 22 No. 7, October 1998, http://www.ciaonet.org/olj/sa/sa_98ber01.html.]
Name: Z-plant
Other Names: "mini Z-plant"
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Location: Pelindaba
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Primary function: This plant was designed to produce LEU for commercial production.
Description: This facility has a capacity of 300,000 SWUs per year, had a maximum enrichment of 3.25%. The uranium hexafluoride plant, completed in 1986, had the capacity to produce 700 tons a year. Roughly two-thirds of its annual capacity was required to fuel the Koeberg reactors. However, from 1988 to mid-1993 those reactors consumed 95% of the total actual output (734,000 SWUs). Although the Z-Plant was authorized to operate in 1984, production problems contributed to its delayed commercial operations until 1988. This facility, similar to the Y-plant, was inefficient and not competitive in its commercial operations, and was shut down on 31 March 1995.
[Key Sources: "South Africa's Nuclear Weapons Program: Building Bombs," Federation of American Scientists, 7 September 2001, http://www.fas.org/nuke/hew/Safrica/SABuildingBombs.html.]
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Updated April 2004 |
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