 |
||
| December 13, 2004 No.1033 | ||
| MHI Receives Order for Basic Design and R&D of PBMR Helium-driven Turbo Generator for South Africa -- Toward Verification of Small-size, Gas-driven Nuclear Power System -- |
||||||
| Tokyo, December 13, 2004 -- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has received an order from PBMR (Pty) Ltd. of the Republic of South Africa for basic design and research and development of a helium-driven turbo generator system, the major component of the company's pebble bed modular reactors (PBMR). The contract, already signed, also calls for MHI to review the conceptual design of the PBMR's core barrel assembly (CBA). | ||||||
MHI will conduct its review of the CBA conceptual design through April 2005 and perform the basic design of the turbo generator system by September 2006. The company hopes to continue participating in the project thereafter with detailed design work and production of various other components for the 110 MW PBMR demonstration unit. The PBMR is a small, safe and cost-efficient reactor with power generating capabilities that require relatively low initial investment and is said to be well suited to applications in areas where the power transmission grid is undeveloped. It uses silicon carbide coated uranium particles encased in graphite for fuel spheres, making it free from risk of reactor core meltdown; helium is used as the coolant and energy transfer medium to a closed cycle gas turbine and generator. The PBMRs can be introduced as a 1,320 MW (8 x 165 MW) power plant with configuring multiple reactors at one site. South Africa plans to introduce at least eight PBMR modules, with the first commercial reactor to start up by 2013, once the demonstration has proven successful. PBMR (Pty) Ltd. is a nuclear power engineering company established in 1999, when the PBMR project started. Ttwo South African companies, Eskom and the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC), and a foreign firm, British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) of the U.K., have equity stakes in PBMR (Pty) Ltd. Going forward, the engineering firm aims to accelerate its design and R&D activities toward inauguration of the demonstration unit at Koeberg near Cape Town. MHI has been developing the PBMR's helium-driven turbo generator system in collaboration with PBMR (Pty) Ltd. since its participation in the system's feasibility study conducted in 2001, as part of the PBMR development project. The new contract marks expansion of MHI's involvement in the PBMR project, adding CBA design to its earlier work on the turbo generator system. The contract was awarded to MHI based on PBMR's high evaluation of the company's solid record in design and production capability, demonstrated with its vast experiences in nuclear field, and its recognized success in working with South African companies. Buoyed by this latest order, MHI aims to further strengthen its cooperative relationship with PBMR (Pty) Ltd. and, once the demonstration module proves successful, to take an active approach toward PBMR projects not just in South Africa but worldwide. # # #
About Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading heavy machinery manufacturers, with consolidated sales of 2,373 billion yen in fiscal 2003 (year ended March 31, 2004). MHI's diverse lineup of products and services encompasses shipbuilding, steel structures, power plants, chemical plants, steel plants, environmental equipment, industrial and general machinery, aircraft, space rocketry and air-conditioning systems. For more information, please visit the MHI website (http://www.mhi.co.jp). PRESS CONTACT: Hideo Ikuno: h.ikuno@daiya-pr.co.jp Tel: +813-6716-5277, Fax: +813-6716-5929 Daiya PR (in charge of public relations for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.) |
