Economic, environmental and practical reasons make nuclear power the best option in Africa
DR. Kelvin Kemm and Knox Msebenzi
Centuries ago, European countries tried to take control of large parts of Africa in order to increase their prosperity and colonial prestige. They brought their sophisticated, progressive ideas and methods to Africa. This changed the direction of development of the African countries, and positive influences were absorbed, while much misfortune and conflict arose even when the colonial rulers could not grasp the limits of transforming Africa into a European clone.
The famous British author Rudyard Kipling came to South Africa many times and wrote beautiful prose about the country, but emphasized the deep spiritual differences in the terrain and general character between Africa and England. He understood the heart and soul of the country, but very many did not and still do not.
Europe has developed a lot since then. But also Africa, if not in the same way.
The people of Africa have developed locally applicable solutions to problems and challenges. First World countries must accept that their technological solutions are designed for their social and geographical conditions, not ours. Yes, we have adopted and adapted many foreign solutions, but in most cases a direct transplant from the First World to Africa does not work optimally.
Electrification is an important infrastructure development. High voltage power lines over 1000 km long are unknown in Europe but common in South Africa, where they also cross one of the areas with the highest lightning strike on the planet. These realities have led to technologically advanced solutions.
The people of Africa know what is best for the people of Africa. First world countries really need to forego paternalism by trying to tell Africans to “make sense” and “go the right way” or “prevent climate change” – all of which means they should “make their own.” Walk away . ”
In South Africa, coal has been the mainstay of power generation for over a century, but the large coal fields are in the far northeast. The port city of Cape Town is further from the coal fields than London is from Rome! For this reason, a nuclear power plant was built near Cape Town about 40 years ago to provide electricity to and from the south.
The decision to introduce nuclear energy in South Africa was made on the basis of solid strategic planning. It turned out to be a very good decision.
Nuclear power is certainly a source of sustainable clean energy. At least seven African countries have signed agreements on the development of nuclear capabilities with the Russian nuclear company Rosatom. Small modular reactors (SMRs) are currently being developed that are ideal for use in virtually any location. Large conventional nuclear power plants can have an output of 3000 megawatts (MW), while an SMR is only about 100 MW.
Contrary to popular rhetoric that nuclear power and renewable energies (RE) are mutually exclusive, they actually complement each other very well. SMRs can vary the performance at the will of the system operator. RE sources such as wind and sun depend on changing weather. When a cloud is thrown over a solar system, modern nuclear power can be ramped up to replace the reduced output.
Nuclear critics wrongly say that nuclear power is very inflexible. The reason most nuclear power plants are not designed to operate in a highly flexible manner is because their performance does not depend on the amount of fuel such as coal, diesel or gas being fed. They are designed to run reliably at full speed.
Some critics of Nuclear for Africa have argued that it requires special skills that African countries do not have. The truth is that once a nuclear decision is made, these skills can be developed – and conventional electrical or mechanical engineers can be “nuclearized” by training them in specific nuclear issues. Everything else is the same.
The idea that a national energy system can run on renewable energy sources is unrealistic and suicidal. A prudent approach is to find an optimal mix that provides network stability and reliability. African countries need reliable removable energy. That is, if a generation loss occurs anywhere in the system, the control panel can instruct other units to increase generation. With RE you only get what the sun or the wind are currently producing. An increase in performance is out of the question.
SMR systems can be sized to meet the needs of any country and placed near large load centers, reducing the need for expensive transmission networks. If the demand for electricity increases, it can be met in small steps by one SMR at a time, which is a small burden on financial and logistical planning.
The majority of the costs for nuclear power plants are under construction; The fuel costs are low. Once an SMR is in place, operating costs and fuel costs are low and predictable well into the future.
If Africa were to go nuclear on a large scale, which seems likely, it would make sense to standardize one particular SMR model. The staff in each country would be trained to be part of the network. The local building capabilities in each country would be used to optimize the utility for each host country. As with large aircraft and vehicles, a policy of standardization allows to some extent mutual benefit in the exchange of expertise, experience and spare parts.
The HTMR-100 developed in South Africa is an ideal high-temperature gas reactor for use in Africa. The technology uses gas cooling and high temperatures, which makes these devices very suitable not only for generating electricity, but also for industrial processes that require heat. A typical application is the desalination of sea water.
Many African countries are highly dependent on hydropower. However, many African hydropower plants are very problematic because of unpredictable rainfall patterns and because dams are very wide and shallow compared to dams in Nordic countries. Therefore, it is very difficult to maintain the head and volume of water required for hydropower.
The African countries are obliged to develop African solutions that correspond to the realities of African conditions. The African countries must have an immediate planning goal of increasing electricity production by 100% and then in most cases doubling it again and again. That requires foresight and foresight. In many cases this means developing completely different approaches than in Europe or the USA.
In small modular reactors, the fuel is extremely small and robust. That is, it is perfectly feasible to transport nuclear fuel thousands of kilometers overland. It’s also quite possible to keep a fuel supply that could last months or years if needed.
It also makes sense to think of numerous stand-alone radial power grids based on two or three SMRs. Such small grids may only be 10 or 20 km in diameter, but they could serve an entire industrial area. In a large African country, it may be better to plan half a dozen independent SMR-based mini-grids than to build a large national network that has to traverse many miles of inhospitable terrain.
Why should the traditional image of a single national network apply? In the United States, the state of Texas has its own electrical grid that is independent from the rest of the United States.
African countries do not interconnect power grids as much as many European countries do. Why shouldn’t African countries operate several separate networks within a country serving specific areas? Such an approach is ideally suited for the use of decentralized nuclear power plants that do not require large-scale water cooling.
The more you think about it, the more inappropriate it is for African countries to follow the electricity development models of Europe or America.
Yes, Africa should definitely take a “leap forward” in energy technology and bypass coal, gas and oil in the countries that don’t exist. You should jump straight to small modular reactors and work closely together on development approaches.
Dr. Kelvin Kemm is a nuclear physicist and CEO of Stratek Business Strategy Consultants, a project management company based in Pretoria, South Africa. He conducts business strategy development and project planning in a variety of areas for various clients.
Knox Msebenzi is an electrical engineer and managing director of the Nuclear Industry Association of South Africa in Johannesburg. He has many years of experience in the nuclear industry.
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