South Africa expects to lift the care and maintenance status of its Pebble Bed Modular Reactor PBMR by the first quarter of next year or even earlier, the electricity and energy minister said on Wednesday.
Once considered a global leader in the development of small modular nuclear reactors, South Africa halted its PBMR research in 2010 after spending more than 10 billion rand 577 million and before building a planned demonstration model.
"We are far advanced in our internal processes to make the case to lift the care and maintenance on the PBMR," Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, the electricity and energy minister told a media briefing.
