Name: Koeberg-1
Other Names:
Location: Near Melkbosstrand, Cape Province, a coastal site 30km north of Cape Town
Subordinate to: ESKOM
Size: There are approximately 1,000 employees working at Koeberg, with an additional 40 employees located in the Eskom Generation and Technology Groups in the Johannesburg offices. There are two reactors at the Koeberg-1 facility including the Koeberg-1 reactor, a 920 MW(e) electric pressurized water reactor, and the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (110 MW) power unit, which is based on the high temperature gas-cooled nuclear reactor concept.
Primary function: Koeberg-1 supplies electricity to the Western Cape and also conducts research and development of the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor.
Description: In 1976, a French consortium of three companies (Framatome, Alsthom, and Spie Batignolles) won the contract to build the facility, withstanding competition from a West German consortium and an American, Dutch, and Swiss consortium. The contract was awarded to the French consortium because of possible impediments that might have occurred as a result of the United States and Netherlands' opposition to apartheid. A fire at the site in July 1982 and four bomb explosions at the site in December 1982, both inflicted by the African National Congress (ANC), delayed the opening and criticality date. From the time the facility opened and went critical in March 1984, the reactors were fueled with 3% enriched uranium provided by the US Department of Energy under a contract lasting until 1992. Koeberg-1, with an expected shutdown date in August 2024, is the only nuclear-fired electricity plant on the African continent.
[Key Sources: J.D.L Moore, "The Development of South Africa's Nuclear Capability," in South Africa and Nuclear Proliferation, (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1987), 96-103; "South Africa," Energy Information Administration, December 2000, <http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/safrica2.html>; "Appendix B: Inventory of Major Nuclear Infrastructure in South Africa," The Department of Arts, Culture, Science, and Technology, <http://www.dacst.gov.za/country/append_b.htm>; "Nuclear Power Plants - South Africa," 23 August 1999, The Virtual Nuclear Tourist," <http://www.nucleartourist.com/world/koeberg.htm>; "Unit: Koeberg-1," Nuke Database System, <http://www2.ijs.si/~icjt/plants/uni/a/uni316a.html>].
Name: Koeberg-2
Other Names:
Address:
Location: Near Melkbosstrand, Cape Province, north of Cape Town
Website:
Phone Number:
Subordinate to: ESKOM
Size: Koeberg-2 has the capacity to produce 922 MW(e).
Primary function: Koeberg-1 and Koeberg-2 supplies most of the electricity of the Western Cape and about 10% of the nation's electricity consumption.
Description: The construction for Koeberg-2 began in July 1986 by the French consortium of three companies. The facility opened in 1985, went critical in July 1985, started its commercial operations in November 1985, and is expected to shutdown in November 2025. Koeberg-1 and Koeberg-2 receive low enriched uranium from the Y-plant.
[Key Sources: "Nuclear Plants," International Nuclear Safety Center, <http://www.insc.anl.gov/cgi-bin/sql_interface?view=rx_com_matrix&qvar=
unit&qval=284>; "Unit: Koeberg-2," Nuke Database System, <http://www2.ijs.si/~icjt/plants/uni/a/uni317a.html>].
Name: SAFARI-1 (South African Fundamental Atomic Reactor Installation)
Other Names:
Address:
Location: Pelindaba, 30 km west of Pretoria
Website:
Phone Number:
Subordinate to: Atomic Energy Corporation (AEC); source of technology: Allis Chalmers Corporation (U.S.), but after 1981, South Africa.
Size:
Primary function: The facility, authorized to operate in 1965, was initially used for advanced nuclear physics research programs including commercial uranium hexafluoride, uranium enrichment, and nuclear fuel assembly production. However, changes in South Africa's position on nuclear involvement and its integration into the world economy prompted changes in its focus to commercially driven projects.
Description: The SAFARI-1 consists of a reactor poolside, in-core irradiation positions, pneumatic facilities, and a hydraulic facility. The 20 MWt research reactor of tank-in-pool type performs various radiation applications including the "neutron transmutation doping of silicon crystals and the coloration of topaz." The reactor uses fuel enriched to 45% uranium 235 from the Y plant and produces plutonium as waste material. The in-core irradiation positions "have neutron fluxes of 2 x 1014 n.cm-2.s-1 at 20 MW and are primarily used for isotope production. Six positions are fitted with thimble tubes to allow sample retrieval while the reactor is on power. Five of these positions are dedicated to the irradiation of uranium target plates for the production of the fission product Molybdenum-99." The pneumatic facilities "are used mainly for neutron activation analysis which involves shorter irradiations of smaller samples in lower flux regions." The hydraulic facility "allows access to high flux positions while the reactor is on power." The facility also includes an isotope center that consists of hot cells with manipulators, waste handling and storage capacity, laboratories, and hydraulic-pneumatic conveying system to move radioactive material from the SAFARI-1 reactor to the isotope center. The following table illustrates the isotopes produced at the isotope center in November 1998:
Industrial Applications
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Medical Isotopes
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Ir-192
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Radiography
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Sm-153
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Pain palliation
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La-140
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Fluid transport
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I-131
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Diagnosis and therapy
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Y-90
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Thickness gauging
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Au-198
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Brachytherapy
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P-32
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Labeling
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Ir-192
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Brachytherapy
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S-35
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Labeling
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Mo-99
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Tc-99m generators
| Source: "NTP Facilities: The Isotope Centre," Nuclear Technology Products, <http://www.radioisotopes.co.za>.
SAFARI-1, purchased in 1961, went critical on 18 March 1965. Between 1965 and 1975, the U.S. supplied the reactor with about 100 kg of weapons-grade uranium fuel. Since 1977, the reactor has run at 5 MWt with shutdowns mandated every two weeks. In 1981, it was announced that SAFARI-1 would be fuelled with 45% enriched material from the Y-plant. SAFARI-1 is the only reactor in the world with a comprehensive on site production lifecycle. "A comprehensive preventative maintenance program and an operating strategy for the continuous upgrading of plant equipment, ensure that SAFARI-1 will continue to operate well into the 21st century." Source: "NTP facilities: The SAFARI-1 Nuclear Reactor," Nuclear Technology Products, http://www.radioisotopes.co.za.[Key Sources: Phil Richardson, "South Africa Nuclear Power Programme and Relevant Institutions," The Virtual Repository, <http://cobweb.quantisci.co.uk/VRepository/safr.htm>; "South Africa's Nuclear Capability: UNIDIR Reports Developments," UN Chronicle 22, no.1 (1985), 46; David Albright and Mark Hibbs, "South Africa: The ANC and the Atom Bomb," Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, <http://www.bullatomsci.org/issues/1993/a93/a93AlbrightHibbs.html>; "Appendix B: Inventory of Major Nuclear Infrastructure in South Africa," The Department of Arts, Culture, Science, and Technology, <http://www.dacst.gov.za/country/append_b.htm>; "NTP Facilities: The SAFARI-1 Nuclear Reactor," Nuclear Technology Products, <http://www.radioisotopes.co.za>; "NTP facilities: The Isotope Centre," Nuclear Technology Products, <http://www.radioisotopes.co.za>; A. Eberhard, M. Myers, F. Sellschop, and R. Webster, "Atomic Energy Corporation Review," Federation of American Scientists, January 1997, <http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/rsa/agency/aecpg1.htm>].Name: SAFARI-2 Other Names: Pelinduna Critical Assembly/Pelinduna/Pelindaba-Zero Address:Location:Website:Phone Number:Subordinate to: Size: Primary function: Research reactor Description: In 1965, Israeli scientists began advising South Africa on the SAFARI-2 research reactor and operation started in 1967. The U.S. supplied 606 kilograms of 2% enriched uranium and 5.4 metric tons of heavy water to the SAFARI-2 10 MWt reactor. Because SAFARI-2 did not produce significant power or plutonium, it did not present any risks vis-à-vis weapons proliferation. The combination of problems with the reactor's design and the financial costs exceeding the costs of power stations fueled by South African coal lead to the abandonment of the criticality facility and the reactor type in 1969. The facility was dismantled in 1970 and decommissioned in the 1980s. [Key Sources: J.D.L Moore, "The Development of South Africa's Nuclear Capability," in South Africa and Nuclear Proliferation, (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1987), p. 83-84, 103].
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Updated February 2006 |
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