South Africa Initiates Tender Process for New Research Reactor
The
South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) has launched a tender to
replace its ageing nuclear research reactor, Safari 1, in order to try to
maintain its position as one of the world's top producers of molybdenum-99 (Mo-99)
and other radioisotopes.
Necsa
subsidiary NTP Radioisotopes uses the 20MW
Safari 1 research reactor at Pelindaba, in operation since 1965, to
produce a range of radioisotopes used in medicine, agriculture and research. It
also supports scientific research, development and innovation in medicine,
agriculture, paleontology and bioscience.
The
conversion of Safari 1 to low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel was completed in 2009
and it has been using LEU targets for radioisotope production since 2010. However,
it had to be shut down for three months at the beginning of 2018 after a
hydrogen leak was detected and it currently operates under a regime of care and
age management, Necsa said. It is scheduled for decommissioning in 2030. Necsa
released a request for information (RFI) as a first step in a tender process to
help assess interest from a potential preferred supplier to construct a new
multi-purpose reactor (MPR).
The
project was approved by the South African Cabinet in September 2021.
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Source: NUCLEAR ENGINEERING