کد مقاله کد نشریه سال انتشار مقاله انگلیسی نسخه تمام متن
995866 936279 2011 10 صفحه PDF دانلود رایگان
عنوان انگلیسی مقاله ISI
The Pebble Bed Modular Reactor: An obituary
موضوعات مرتبط
مهندسی و علوم پایه مهندسی انرژی مهندسی انرژی و فناوری های برق
پیش نمایش صفحه اول مقاله
The Pebble Bed Modular Reactor: An obituary
چکیده انگلیسی

The High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR) has exerted a peculiar attraction over nuclear engineers. Despite many unsuccessful attempts over half a century to develop it as a commercial power reactor, there is still a strong belief amongst many nuclear advocates that a highly successful HTGR technology will emerge. The most recent attempt to commercialize an HTGR design, the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR), was abandoned in 2010 after 12 years of effort and the expenditure of a large amount of South African public money. This article reviews this latest attempt to commercialize an HTGR design and attempts to identify which issues have led to its failure and what lessons can be learnt from this experience. It concludes that any further attempts to develop HTGRs using Pebble Bed technology should only be undertaken if there is a clear understanding of why earlier attempts have failed and a high level of confidence that earlier problems have been overcome. It argues that the PBMR project has exposed serious weaknesses in accountability mechanisms for the expenditure of South African public money.

Research highlights
► In this study we examine the reasons behind the failure of the South African PBMR programme.
► The study reviews the technical issues that have arisen and lessons for future reactor developments.
► The study also identifies weaknesses in the accountability mechanisms for public spending.

ناشر
Database: Elsevier - ScienceDirect (ساینس دایرکت)
Journal: Energy Policy - Volume 39, Issue 5, May 2011, Pages 2431–2440
نویسندگان
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