Technology originally developed for a pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR) can help the production of a 100-MW high temperature modular reactor (HTMR) be completed within five years, the chairman and chief executive officer of South African energy company Stratek Global said.

Kelvin Kemm, a former chairman of the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa), said the experience gained during the PBMR programme will allow Stratek Global to accelerate its timeline for the completion of an HTMR. Necsa, wholly owned by the state, was set up in 1999 to undertake and promote research and development in nuclear energy.

The PBMR design was based on German technology and developed in South Africa. The programme began in 1993 but funding was cut by the South African government in 2010 and the project placed under “care and maintenance” to safeguard its intellectual property and assets.