South Africa will reactivate the PBMR small modular reactor project

South Africa was lifting its Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) out of care and maintenance, Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosienstsho Ramokgopa confirmed, almost in passing, on Tuesday. He was delivering the keynote address at the Enlit Africa 2025 conference, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. The PBMR was a small modular nuclear reactor (SMR). It was being developed by South Africa from 1994 (although the preliminary work predated that year) to 2009, when it was effectively terminated, through being reduced to a care and maintenance status. The scientists and engineers who had worked on the project scattered to the winds, with anecdotal reports indicating that at least some of them emigrated, to work on other countries’ nuclear projects, although others did remain in South Africa.