Read the Nuclear Industry Spotlight - Intergraph

Koeberg to serve as a launch platform for local
and international sales. At the same time, they are
developing an associated fuel plant at Pelindaba
near Pretoria. Once the technology is ready to be
implemented, Eskom will be PBMR’s first customer.
PBMR is on schedule to begin construction on
the demonstration plant.
“As our team of PBMR staff and contractors finalizes
the design for the plant, we have what I call
‘islands’ of information,” said le Roex. “Intergraph’s
SmartPlant Enterprise is providing us with a wellstructured
integration to bring all the disciplines
together. It unifies the design process and provides
us with an interface for the procurement and construction
processes, as well as helping us manage
and control data on the construction site,” he said.
Innovative design
The reactor offers a sustainable energy source with
an inherent capacity for safety. It can be either
dry- or water-cooled, so it doesn’t have to be
sited near water. This new design can be built in
a much shorter timeframe than traditional nuclear
plants and its modular design allows for a close
match of demand and supply through expansion
planning. The design follows U.S. rules, standards
and regulations as far as they apply to this technology
to facilitate a seamless application process
for building PBMRs internationally.
“We’re already pursuing the process of engaging
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC),
the American regulatory authority, to reach
an agreement for the formal application of
design certification,” said le Roex. “Once you’ve
got American certification, it makes it much easier
to gain certification in other countries, which will
significantly expedite our international sales,”
he explained.
PBMR fuel is based on a proven high-quality
German fuel design consisting of low-enriched uranium
triple-coated isotropic particles contained in
a molded graphite sphere (the “pebble”). Because
South Africa boasts the world’s largest gold mining
industry, it holds abundant reserves of uranium, a
byproduct of gold production. This will enable the
country to support its nuclear power plants globally
and to sell nuclear fuel manufactured locally.
Very little nuclear material remains in each spent
fuel sphere, which makes it extremely proliferationresistant.
The pebbles do not require an expensive
waste disposal site and can be readily buried in
any geologically stable formation.
The PBMR modular concept gives utility clients
flexibility in choosing the configuration that best
matches their needs. The power plant design can be
configured in two-, four- or eight-module arrangements,
greatly reducing the capital required for
installation. Units can be brought online at a rate
that best matches the electricity demand growth
of a region, saving millions of dollars in start-up
costs. The modules can be added on without any
interruption in current power generation.
Because it’s small in size compared to traditional
nuclear reactors and requires a smaller safety perimeter,
the PBMR can be built in close proximity
to the community it serves, eliminating the
need and cost of thousands of miles of hightransmission
cables.
Planning for the future
Alec Erwin, South Africa’s minister of public enterprises,
has stated an intent to eventually produce
between 4,000 to 5,000 MW of power from pebble
bed reactors in South Africa. This equates to between
20 and 30 plants of 165 MW each. Erwin
said the PBMR would place the country at the
forefront of energy technology. “The project is now
factored into our future energy planning, and we
are negotiating a major intention-to-purchase
agreement between Eskom and PBMR,” he said.
As a further endorsement of the project, Westinghouse,
one of the world’s leading nuclear power
companies, has become a PBMR shareholder,
replacing the 15 percent interest previously held
by British Nuclear Fuels.
Le Roex explained that South Africa’s pebble bed
demonstration reactor project will take place in
three phases. First, PBMR will obtain regulatory
approvals (environmental impact assessment and
licensing) to begin construction. Next, they will
load the fuel, and finally, the client (Eskom) will
operate the plant.
“At the moment, we have drafted the safety case
for construction and are reviewing and revising
it with Eskom. It will soon be submitted to the
National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) here in South
Africa for approval,” said le Roex.
SmartPlant integrated workflow
Intergraph’s SmartPlant Enterprise is playing a key
role in the plant’s design and licensing stage.
“We’re actually doing a full-house Intergraph
implementation,” said le Roex. “The main power
system – the reactor vessel, turbines and all the
major parts that carry the helium between the
turbine and the reactor – are being designed in
Unigraphics. And then out of that, we’re driving the
equipment 3D models into SmartPlant 3D. That’s
where design comes together with electrical – and
the 3D integration with electrical, P&ID, instrumentation
and all of the other engineering disciplines –
to control and produce the production drawings
and specifications,” he said.
“Because we’re operating in an integrated design
environment,” he continued, “we’ve eliminated
a huge amount of work duplication, data transfer
and all associated configuration management.
Intergraph provided an enormous amount of technical
expertise and support by flying out a team
of professionals from all over the world to conduct
a week-long initial workshop. Our staff is currently
being trained in SmartPlant P&ID, SmartPlant 3D,
SmartPlant Foundation, SmartPlant Materials
and advanced administration,” he said.
PBMR has created an implementation team made
up of smaller staff units. The sub-groups are responsible
for 3D Design, Product Data Management,
P&ID Design, Instrumentation and Electrical and
Project Management.
“The bottom line for us is that I don’t know how
anyone can deliver a complex project like this one
effectively without using something like the
SmartPlant Enterprise suite. We are happy to
collaborate with other organizations on best practices
and how we have made use of Intergraph’s
technology to achieve our goals,” said le Roex.
“If you look at the return on investment over the
life cycle of the project and all the time we’ve saved
using Intergraph software, you’re looking at a very
large number. I estimate our savings outweigh the
costs by 10 to 1. At the end of the day, we at PBMR
hope to become a model Intergraph site.”
Pat Thomson is managing director of Intergraph
Systems Southern Africa (ISSA), an Intergraph
distributor.
www.pbmr.com
Nuclear Industry
Insight
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