International scientists are not that convinced with the South African designed Pebble Bed Modular Reactor.
It seems that a German scientist by the name of Rainer Moorman believes a secondary containment barrier needs to implemented in the design of the new reactors.
The argument for the extra bit of protection is basically “just in case.” The reason is that the original pebble bed prototype reactor in Germany, aka AVR, which was shutdown in 1988 is still heavily contaminated.
The reason for the contamination is supposedly due to the rather high operating temperatures of the prototype. Pro-PBMR campaigners argue that the prototype used 20 different types of fuel, and the older inferior fuels are the cause behind the contamination, and not the high operating temperatures.
The PMBR scientists argue that the PBMRs, that are planned to be used in South Africa will use the “latest high quality” fuel currently in Germany.
All we hope is that we can just stop having load shedding.
