Abstract
In April 2000, the South African Cabinet approved the carrying out of a feasibility study by the South African State electric utility, Eskom, for the construction of a prototype of a new design of nuclear power plant, the pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR). Development work on this design has been underway since 1993 and has already been estimated to have cost Eskom R120m, or about US$20m. (Bailey & Moti, 2000) To bring this design of reactor to the point where it is available for commercial ordering on the world market will require finance more than an order of magnitude greater. Much of this money will come from, or will be underwritten by South African electricity consumers and taxpayers. If the project is a success, Eskom projects that it could generate export revenues of R18-20bn per year (Bailey & Moti, 2000). If it is not, Eskom will have wasted billions of Rands of public money. This paper examines the arguments for and against the development by Eskom of the PBMR.
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