geniv accession

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Accession by South Africa to the Framework
Agreement for International Collaboration on
Research and Development of Generation IV Nuclear
Energy Systems

• The Generation IV International Forum, or GIF,
  was chartered in July 2001 to lead the
  collaborative efforts of the world's leading
  nuclear technology nations to develop next
  generation nuclear energy systems to meet the
  world's future energy needs. South Africa signed
  the Charter which is a loose arrangement.
• The GEN IV Framework Agreement is an
  international agreement that is legally binding
  on the Republic of South Africa. It entered into
  force on 28 February 2005 after signature by the
  USA, UK, FRANCE, CANADA and JAPAN. This agreement
  is now open to accession.
• The Department of Foreign Affairs (International
  Law) and the Department of Justice and
  Constitutional Development have both confirmed
  that there is no conflict with international
  obligations and domestic law, respectively.
• Subsequently, Cabinet approved the accession to
  this agreement on 18 April 2007. Cabinet also
  approved that the Department of Minerals and
  Energy (DME) shall be the implementing agent of
  this agreement
• However Section 231 of the Constitution of RSA,
  1996 (Act No. 108 of 1996) requires that
  accession to the Framework Agreement be approved
  by Cabinet and subsequently, Parliament (both
  Houses)
• Once the Houses of Parliament have approved the
  accession, an instrument of accession will be
  lodged with the designated Depository of the GIF
  viz. the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA)

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Accession by South Africa to the Framework
Agreement for International Collaboration on
Research and Development of Generation IV Nuclear
Energy Systems

• A Nuclear Energy System combination of a
  nuclear power reactor and its associated nuclear
  fuel cycle

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Accession by South Africa to the Framework
Agreement for International Collaboration on
Research and Development of Generation IV Nuclear
Energy Systems

• What is Generation IV?
• The next generation of nuclear energy systems -
  generation IV - must be licensed, constructed and
  operated in a manner that will provide a
  competitively priced supply of energy. They must
  consider an optimum use of natural resources,
  while addressing nuclear safety, waste and
  proliferation resistance and public perception
  concerns of the countries in which those systems
  are deployed.
•  
• What is the Generation IV International Forum?
• Recognizing both the positive attributes and
  shortcomings of the prior generations of reactor
  designs, the thirteen members of the GIF are
  working together to lay the groundwork for a
  fourth generation, called Generation IV. The
  governmental entities are working together as the
  Generation IV International Forum (GIF).
• When will Generation IV reactors be commercially
  available?
• The objective of the GIF is to have Generation
  IV nuclear energy systems available for
  international deployment by 2030 or earlier.

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Accession by South Africa to the Framework
Agreement for International Collaboration on
Research and Development of Generation IV Nuclear
Energy Systems

• The GIF membership
• The thirteen current members of the GIF are set
  out below.
• Argentina  (Non-active founding member)
• Republic of Korea 
• Brazil  (Non-active founding member)
• Russian Federation 
• Canada 
• Republic of South Africa  (Non-active
  founding member)
• People's Republic of China  
• Switzerland 
• Euratom 
• United Kingdom  (Non-active founding member)
• France 
• United States of America
• Japan  
• All GIF members are signatories to the GIF
  Charter. Seven members have since signed or
  acceded to the Framework Agreement.
• Non-active members are those among the nine
  founding members which have not yet acceded to
  the Framework Agreement, to which seven members
  are currently acceded. The Framework Agreement
  establishes system and project organizational
  levels for further cooperation.
• Non-founding members joining the GIF are
  committed to acceding to the Framework Agreement
  within 12 months of signing the Charter

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Accession by South Africa to the Framework
Agreement for International Collaboration on
Research and Development of Generation IV Nuclear
Energy Systems

• GIF Governance
• As detailed in its Charter and subsequent GIF
  Policy Statements, the GIF is led by the Policy
  Group. The Policy Group is responsible for the
  overall framework and policy formation and for
  interactions with third parties. An Experts Group
  advises the Policy Group on RD strategy,
  priorities and methodology, and on evaluating
  research plans for each Generation IV System. The
  GIF Policy Group meets two to three times a year
  to review past activities, provide guidance to
  the Experts Group and Systems Steering
  Committees, and determine future program
  direction. The GIF Policy Group has elected a
  chair and two vice-chairs to lead its activities.
  The United States currently chairs the Policy
  Group, supported by Vice-Chairs from France and
  Japan. At its meeting in January 2005, the Policy
  Group confirmed arrangements under which the
  OECD's Nuclear Energy Agency will provide
  Technical Secretariat support for the GIF. The
  governance structure is illustrated below.
• The GIF has established System Steering
  Committees to implement the research and
  development for each Generation IV reactor
  concept, with participation by GIF Members
  interested in contributing to collaborative RD.
  Each System Steering Committee will plan and
  integrate RD projects contributing to the design
  of a System. Participants in System Committees,
  and in Projects, will sign agreements governing
  intellectual property rights and other matters in
  order to work cooperatively on the concepts. The
  Charter of the GIF and the Framework Agreement
  allow for the participation of organizations from
  non-GIF countries on research projects, but not
  on Systems Steering Committees.
• The GIF represents the desire of all its members
  to find new and better solutions to the world's
  future energy and environment challenges while
  allowing continued economic development and
  growth throughout the world. Nuclear technology
  can play a key role in this future by providing a
  means of supplying people all over the world with
  a safe, proliferation-resistant, and economic
  means of producing electricityand eventually
  hydrogenwithout harming the environment in which
  we all live and breathe.

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Accession by South Africa to the Framework
Agreement for International Collaboration on
Research and Development of Generation IV Nuclear
Energy Systems
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Accession by South Africa to the Framework
Agreement for International Collaboration on
Research and Development of Generation IV Nuclear
Energy Systems

• Framework Agreement
• This unique international effort reached a major
  milestone on 28 February 2005, as five of the
  forum's member countries signed the world's first
  agreement aimed at the international development
  of advanced nuclear energy systems, the Framework
  Agreement for International Collaboration on
  Research and Development of Generation IV Nuclear
  Energy Systems.
• As of January 2007, the agreement was in force
  for the following countries
• Country Implementing agent(s)
• Canada Department of Natural Resources
• Euratom Joint Research Centre
• France Commissariat à lÉnergie Atomique
• Japan Agency for Natural Resources and
  Energy Japan Atomic Energy Agency
• Korea Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST)
  Korea Science and Engineering Foundation
  (KOSEF) Switzerland Paul Scherrer Institute
• United States of America Department of Energy
• Among the five signatories, the United Kingdom
  has not ratified the Framework Agreement.

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Accession by South Africa to the Framework
Agreement for International Collaboration on
Research and Development of Generation IV Nuclear
Energy Systems

• Generation IV Systems
• Generation IV nuclear energy systems are future,
  next-generation technologies that will compete in
  all markets with the most cost-effective
  technologies expected to be available over the
  next three decades.
• Comparative advantages include reduced capital
  cost, enhanced nuclear safety, minimal generation
  of nuclear waste, and further reduction of the
  risk of weapons materials proliferation.
  Generation IV systems are intended to be
  responsive to the needs of a broad range of
  nations and users.
• The Generation IV Systems selected by the GIF for
  further study are
• Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor (GFR)features a
  fast-neutron-spectrum, helium-cooled reactor and
  closed fuel cycle
• Very-High-Temperature Reactor (VHTR)a
  graphite-moderated, helium-cooled reactor with a
  once-through uranium fuel cycle
• Supercritical-Water-Cooled Reactor (SCWR)a
  high-temperature, high-pressure water-cooled
  reactor that operates above the thermodynamic
  critical point of water
• Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor (SFR)features a
  fast-spectrum, sodium-cooled reactor and closed
  fuel cycle for efficient management of actinides
  and conversion of fertile uranium
• Lead-Cooled Fast Reactor (LFR)features a
  fast-spectrum lead of lead/bismuth eutectic
  liquid-metal-cooled reactor and a closed fuel
  cycle for efficient conversion of fertile uranium
  and management of actinides
• Molten Salt Reactor (MSR)produces fission power
  in a circulating molten salt fuel mixture with an
  epithermal-spectrum reactor and a full actinide
  recycle fuel cycle.
• These 6 systems offer significant advances in
  sustainability, safety and reliability,
  economics, proliferation resistance and physical
  protection

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Accession by South Africa to the Framework
Agreement for International Collaboration on
Research and Development of Generation IV Nuclear
Energy Systems

• The Very-High-Temperature Reactor (VHTR) is a
  graphite-moderated, helium-cooled reactor with a
  thermal neutron spectrum.
• The VHTR is designed to be a high-efficiency
  system, which can supply electricity and process
  heat to a broad spectrum of high-temperature and
  energy-intensive processes.
• The reference reactor is a 600 MWth core
  connected to an intermediate heat exchanger to
  deliver process heat. The reactor core can be a
  prismatic block core or a pebble-bed core
  according to the fuel particles assembly. Fuel
  particles are coated with successive material
  layers, high temperature resistant, then formed
  either into fuel compacts embedded in graphite
  block for the prismatic block-type core reactor,
  or formed into graphite coated pebbles. The
  reactor supplies heat with core outlet
  temperatures up to 1,000 degrees Celsius, which
  enables such applications as hydrogen production
  or process heat for the petrochemical industry.
  As a nuclear heat application, hydrogen can be
  efficiently produced from only heat and water by
  using thermochemical iodine-sulfur process, or
  high temperature electrolysis process or with
  additional natural gas by applying the steam
  reformer technology.
• Thus, the VHTR offers a high-efficiency
  electricity production and a broad range of
  process heat applications, while retaining the
  desirable safety characteristics in normal as
  well as off-normal events. Solutions to adequate
  waste management will be developed. The basic
  technology for the VHTR has been well established
  in former High Temperature Gas Reactors plants,
  such as the US Fort Saint Vrain and Peach Bottom
  prototypes, and the German AVR and THTR
  prototypes. The technology is being advanced
  through near or medium term projects lead by
  several plant vendors and national laboratories,
  such as PBMR, GT-HTR300C, ANTARES, NHDD, GT-MHR
  and NGNP in South Africa, Japan, France, South
  Korea and the United States. Experimental
  reactors HTTR (Japan, 30 MWth) and HTR-10
  (China, 10 MWth) support the advanced concept
  development, and the cogeneration of electricity
  and nuclear heat application.

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S Accession by South Africa to the Framework
Agreement for International Collaboration on
Research and Development of Generation IV Nuclear
Energy Systems
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Accession by South Africa to the Framework
Agreement for International Collaboration on
Research and Development of Generation IV Nuclear
Energy Systems

• The Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor (GFR) system features
  a fast-neutron-spectrum, helium-cooled reactor
  and closed fuel cycle.
• Like thermal-spectrum, helium-cooled reactors,
  the high outlet temperature of the helium coolant
  makes it possible to deliver electricity,
  hydrogen, or process heat with high efficiency.
  The reference reactor is a 288-MWe helium-cooled
  system operating with an outlet temperature of
  850 degrees Celsius using a direct Brayton cycle
  gas turbine for high thermal efficiency.
• Several fuel forms are candidates that hold the
  potential to operate at very high temperatures
  and to ensure an excellent retention of fission
  products composite ceramic fuel, advanced fuel
  particles, or ceramic clad elements of actinide
  compounds. Core configurations may be based on
  prismatic blocks, pin- or plate-based assemblies.
  The GFR reference has an integrated, on-site
  spent fuel treatment and refabrication plant.
• The GFR uses a direct-cycle helium turbine for
  electricity generation, or can optionally use its
  process heat for thermochemical production of
  hydrogen. Through the combination of a fast
  spectrum and full recycle of actinides, the GFR
  minimizes the production of long-lived
  radioactive waste.

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Accession by South Africa to the Framework
Agreement for International Collaboration on
Research and Development of Generation IV Nuclear
Energy Systems
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Accession by South Africa to the Framework
Agreement for International Collaboration on
Research and Development of Generation IV Nuclear
Energy Systems NATIONAL CONTEXT

• Normal membership of GIF and participation in
  all activities of the Policy and Experts Group
  can only continue once the accession to the
  Framework Agreement has been concluded. The
  Framework Agreement is already in force and
  accession is now required.
• Failure to accede to the Agreement would result
  in South Africa becoming a non-active member of
  GIF and not receiving the potential benefits of
  the new and innovative RD.
• As a member of the GIF South Africa is obliged
  to support the purpose and vision of the GIF by
  becoming a party to the Framework Agreement

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Accession by South Africa to the Framework
Agreement for International Collaboration on
Research and Development of Generation IV Nuclear
Energy Systems NATIONAL CONTEXT

• Becoming a party to the Framework Agreement will
  enhance the effectiveness of the South African
  nuclear RD program related to the PBMR Project
  and the following specific potential benefits are
  noted
• Building confidence in the PBMR type technology
  as a key element of Generation IV nuclear
  technologies.
• Early and exclusive access to research results
  arising from the specific research undertaken
• Special access to networks and institutions in
  the signatory countries that will enhance the
  product/market potential of PBMR
• Preferred access to potential partners for PBMR
  in the addressing and penetration of specific
  markets
• Reducing the regulatory risks attendant on the
  licensing of novel nuclear technologies which
  will be lower for the signatory countries
• Ensuring greater coherence of South African
  participation in international nuclear research
  and more effective transfer of knowledge to South
  African role-players
• International profiling in key nuclear
  manufacturing nations who compose the GIF

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Accession by South Africa to the Framework
Agreement for International Collaboration on
Research and Development of Generation IV Nuclear
Energy Systems NATIONAL CONTEXT

• International profiling in key nuclear
  manufacturing nations who compose the GIF
• A watching brief on competing and emerging
  technologies
• Reduction of the total RD burden on non-critical
  path aspects of high temperature gas reactor
  research for PBMR
• Complementing our participation in the Next
  Generation Nuclear Programme Consortium with a
  longer term international research programme
• The potential to participate more actively in
  hydrogen generation using nuclear energy in
  support of South Africas Cabinet approved
  Hydrogen Economy Initiative.
• There will also be attendant benefits for the
  Department of Minerals and Energy, the Department
  of Science and Technology, the Nuclear Energy
  Corporation of South Africa (NECSA) and other
  nuclear role-players as a result of GIF
  participation
• An opportunity for South Africa to entrench its
  position as an international player in the global
  nuclear energy sector

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Accession by South Africa to the Framework
Agreement for International Collaboration on
Research and Development of Generation IV Nuclear
Energy Systems NATIONAL CONTEXT

• FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
• The DME requires a budgetary allocation of Euro
  62 000-00 per annum starting from the 2007/2008
  financial year towards GIF secretariat fees. PBMR
  (Pty) Ltd has expressed their support for the
  accession to the GIF Framework Agreement.
• COMMUNICATION IMPLICATION
• Once Parliament has approved, an instrument of
  accession will be lodged with the designated
  Depository and an announcement will be made by
  the Minister of Minerals and Energy

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Accession by South Africa to the Framework
Agreement for International Collaboration on
Research and Development of Generation IV Nuclear
Energy Systems NATIONAL CONTEXT

• The objective of this Framework Agreement is to
  establish a framework for international
  collaboration to foster and facilitate
  achievement of the purpose and vision of the GIF
  namely the development of concepts for one or
  more Generation IV (next generation) Systems that
  can be licensed, constructed and operated in a
  manner that will provide a competitively-priced
  and reliable supply of energy, while
  satisfactorily addressing nuclear safety, waste,
  proliferation and public perception concerns.
• The objective of South Africas PBMR Project is
  similar
• The PBMR, once successfully demonstrated in South
  Africa, shall be regarded as the leading
  contender, if not, the only contender to be
  regarded as a GEN IV Nuclear Energy System that
  meets the technical requirements of the envisaged
  GEN IV System viz. the VHTR, with respect to
  elctricty generation, hydrogen co-generation and
  process heat applications that the VHTR is
  intended to be developed for.
• The PBMR is a GEN IV Nuclear Energy System that
  may be available for international deployment
  before the GEN IV time window of 2030.

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Accession by South Africa to the Framework
Agreement for International Collaboration on
Research and Development of Generation IV Nuclear
Energy Systems CONTACT PERSONS

• Ms N Magubane
• Deputy Director General Electricity and Nuclear
  (012-3178539)
• Mr T B Maqubela
• Chief Director Nuclear (012-3178340)
• Mr H Haricharun
• Director Nuclear Technology (012-3178615)

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Accession by South Africa to the Framework
Agreement for International Collaboration on
Research and Development of Generation IV Nuclear
Energy Systems