Plan to retain nuclear skills

Cape Town - Trade union Solidarity believes a plan to use the skills within the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) company to the benefit of the broader nuclear power industry could save the jobs of 75% of the company's 800 or so employees.

Last month the PBMR, which is developing a new-generation modular pebble bed nuclear reactor, began a retrenchment process in terms of the Labour Relations Act in the wake of government's decision to cease financial support for the project. About R9bn in state funding has been pumped into this company since its inception.

American nuclear company Westinghouse, which has a 5% stake in the PBMR, previously indicated it might provide funding to help the company continue for longer.

The PBMR has also made a submission to cabinet for an alternative financing model with greater participation by private investors.

Solidarity spokesperson Jaco Kleynhans stated that scarce skills that had vested in the company, ancillary companies and training institutions over more than a decade were critical in supporting local nuclear and technology industries as well as the government's planned nuclear programmes.

The PBMR had been well advanced in designing, licensing and manufacturing components and fuel for a pebble bed modular reactor before the global economic crisis and its local effects led to dissolution of these plans, said Kleynhans.

The economic crisis ensured that a large part of the funding for the PBMR was cancelled before the planned facility could be delivered.

The confluence of the economic crisis, the state funding pipeline being shut off, and the government's procrastination in finalising a nuclear industry strategy could mean that South Africa would dilute or completely lose a set of skills critical to the nuclear industry, he said.

Solidarity was working together with PBMR experts to develop an alternative business strategy that could avoid most of the anticipated retrenchments.

The strategy focuses on the retention of the PBMR's knowledge and experience in the nuclear power industry. This would be accomplished by cooperating with universities to develop leadership and experience in the sector, backing state nuclear power policy through support for the Koeberg nuclear power station as well as the planned construction programme for conventional power stations both locally and internationally, and a continuation of the pebble bed reactor programme.

The PBMR's experience can also be harnessed to support the industrial policy action plan in the development of local manufacturing capacity.

Kleynhans says the most important element in Solidarity's proposed strategy is close cooperation with all players in the nuclear industry.

These include the Nuclear Energy Corporation, the departments of energy and public enterprises, National Treasury, power utility Eskom and the unions.

- Sake24.com

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