Nuclear Africa 2017 David Boyes STL

PROJECT STATUS

Company structure

• COMPANY STRUCTURE • STRATEGY AND PLAN • RARE EARTH MINE • REACTOR • DESALINATION • FUEL • REACTOR SCHEDULE • FUEL SCHEDULE • COSTING LUEC and overnight cost

About STL

• Steenkampskraal Thorium Ltd. (STL) is a South African registered company, supported by private share holders and is based in Centurion

• STL is developing thorium as a clean, safe and efficient energy source from the point at which the thorium is mined to the production of thorium containing fuels

• STL is designing a small modular High Temperature Reactor and a pebble fuel factory

• STL is designing a processing plant at the mine to process ore into rare earth materials

STL’s Nuclear Initiative in RSA

• STL has built up a technical team of specialists to design and build a reactor and a fuel plant

• Four years of engineering completed on a 100MWth HTGR

• STL product is a “HTGR High Temperature Modular Reactor “ (HTMR)

• Objective is to build a “demo“ reactor on the NECSA site together with a fuel plant

• The objective is cleaner, safer, sustainable and affordable nuclear power and nuclear desalination

STL’s non-nuclear Initiative in RSA

• Develop infrastructure around the mine • Build processing plants for rare earths and

thorium, which include REE separation and alloys for magnet production

• Produce nuclear grade thorium for use in fuels • Mine and plants operational in 2 years • Become strategic supplier to the West

• Steenkampskraal Monazite Mine is located approximately 330 Km due north of Cape Town

• It is 70 KM north of Vanrhynsdorp, the nearest town centre

This is an existing underground Mine with the following distinct features:

• A high grade monazite vein deposit with visibly clear distinction between the ore body and the waste rock so that blasting and hauling of waste rock will be very minimal.

• It has high Th content too as an added value for nuclear fuel application

• Environmental and Radiation Regulatory Authorizations are in place.

• Significant amount of work to restart the mine has already been done.

• Has a jurisdictional mine site area of 474 hectares.

• Surrounding farm areas of 6 990 hectares have been purchased as buffer zones for the mine operations.

Extensive Drilling Work

• Drilling has been extensive enough to delineate the ore body just around the Koppie. • Potential exists to find the mineralization beyond the current drilled locations

Rare Earth and Thorium Refinery Plants

• Ore will be crushed, milled and beneficiated to produce monazite concentrates.

• Monazite concentrate will chemically be treated to produce purified RE nitrate that will be supplied to a separation Refinery

• REE powder alloys will be prepared for magnet production • Cerium will be removed and stored on site. • Thorium will be purified for nuclear fuel fabrication

Thor Energy Oslo, Norway

• STL is part of the International Thorium Consortium • Aim is to commercialize thorium as a supplement fuel

in conventional nuclear reactors • Irradiation testing of thorium-oxide LWR pellets in the

Halden Reactor (Norway) started on 25 April 2013 • Six rigs in the reactor containing various Thorium fuel

compositions: (7%-40%)

Thorium-oxide pellets

Thor Energy – Halden Reactor

The HTMR100 NPP

The HTMR

• The HTMR100 a Gen IV 100MWth helium cooled reactor that feature a uranium, uranium-thorium or plutonium-thorium fuel cycles

• Ceramic spherical fuel elements are used in an OTTO cycle

• This fuel technology has intrinsic safety characteristics

• Power conversion is via a proven helical coil steam generator

• The HTMR is a nuclear thermal power source that can be utilised for power generation and process heat applications specifically desalination applications

• Small size and modular construction result in shorter building times and lower costs

HTMR Reactors

Power (Thermal) 100MW

Pressure 40 bar

Reactor Outlet Temperature

750 °C

Power Conversion Steam Cycle

Product Heat and/or Electricity

HTMR100 Reactor

Reactor Vessel

CRDMs

Core Barrel

Graphite Structures

Connecting

Vessel Unit

Core

Support

Structure

Ceramic Core

Graphite core structures Complete assembly

Upper core structures

Bottom core structures

Reactor Unit (RU)

Steam Generator Unit

(SGU)

Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV)

Control/Reflector Rod Drive mechanism

Core Unloading Machine (x2)

Blowers (x2)

Steam Outlet (x3)

Feed Water Inlet (x3)

Connecting Vessel Unit

RPV Support (x3)

Reactor and Steam Generator

Helium Flow Path

Blowers

Helical tube bundle

Collecting box

Tube distribution

chamber

Steam out (x3)

Feed water in

(x3)

Reflector rod vessels

Graphite top reflector

Graphite side reflector

Core barrel bottom

structure

Graphite bottom reflector

fuel

Reactor

Unit

Steam Generator Unit

Steam Generator

Main Helium

circulators

Steam Generator Vessel

Steam pipe

connecting vessel

Tube bundle

Hot gas duct

Vessel

restraints Feed water pipe

connecting vessel

Return gas plenum

Vessel Support

Tube bundle

support

Turbine building layout

Turbine building

Transformer building

Switchgear building Reactor building link tunnel

Power distribution yard

Water treatment building

Pump house Dry cooling towers

Fuel Handling System schematic

diagram

Plant Layout

Reactor Building

Electrical Building

HTMR Flexibility

• Small size

• Extendable, modular design which allows for future additional modules

• On-line fuelling

• The HTMR can be placed inland as it is gas-cooled and requires no water for cooling

• Used fuel only requires simple dry cooling

• Fast construction (modular design, skid mounted)

• The reactor is partially located underground (safety point)

HTMR Characteristics

• The HTMR is capable of providing temperatures from 250°C to 750°C

• The HTMR is capable of producing steam, heat, electricity or combinations thereof

• The HTMR is well suited for industrial processes

• The small reactor size allows for the road transport of the reactor vessel

• Modularity allows for further expansion

• The HTMR is inherently safe thus allowing placement close to processing plants to minimize energy loss

HTMR100 Power System PFD

Capital Cost

• The cost of progressive HTMR100 plants decline with time due to:

• The amortization of once-off engineering costs incurred when building the 1st plant

• The potential for economies of scale in the manufacture of components due to standardization of the plant.

Investment Expenditures – Direct field costs

LUEC – 5% Discount Rate (US$/kWh) 9 g HM fuel spheres, 60 000MWd/ton

1st NPP (FOAK) 2 OAK NPP 4 OAK NPP 8th NPP (NOAK)

Th-100 NPP units 1 1 1 1

Electricity price (US$/kWh) 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17

MWe 35 35 35 35

Electricity production (kWe) 300 727 440 300 727 440 300 727 440 300 727 440

Pre Construction Cost $100 000 000 $100 000 000 $100 000 000 $100 000 000

Direct Cost $132 785 308 $124 818 190 $117 329 098 $110 289 352Indirect Cost $44 064 057 $44 064 057 $44 064 057 $44 064 057

Contingency $33 196 327 $26 557 062 $21 245 649 $16 996 519Total Capital Investment Cost $310 045 692 $295 439 308 $282 638 804 $271 349 929

Levelized Capital Cost (US$/kWe) 0.060 0.057 0.055 0.053

O&M $7 577 021 $7 425 481 $7 276 971 $7 131 432Levelized O&M Cost 0.0252 0.0247 0.0242 0.0237 Fresh Fuel Cost $10 138 889 $10 138 889 $10 138 889 $10 138 889Levelized Fresh Fuel Cost 0.0337 0.0337 0.0337 0.0337Spent fuel (interim storage) $3 041 667 $3 041 667 $3 041 667 $3 041 667Levelized Spent fuel cost 0.0101 0.0101 0.0101 0.0101 Decommissioning sinking fund per year $3 319 633 $3 120 455 $2 933 227 $2 757 234Levelized Decommissiong cost 0.0110 0.0104 0.0098 0.0092

LUEC (US$/kWh) 0.140 0.136 0.133 0.129

LUEC (US$/MWh) 140 136 133 129

Single-Units

HTMR Fuel

Fuel Kernel • Four barriers in the Pebble

• Pyrolytic carbon

• Silicon carbide barrier coating

• Inner pyrolytic carbon

• Porous carbon buffer layer

• Thorium dioxide fuel kernel

• 99.99% of all fission products

are retained within the fuel

kernel.

Actual Fuel Kernel

HTR Fuel

The following nuclear fuel capabilities exist in STL : • 90+ years experience in nuclear fuel manufacturing • Experience in working with uranium • Experience in construction, commissioning and testing of plant • Experience in manufacturing pebble fuel • Manufacturing testing and qualification • Manufacturing of standard quality and irradiation fuel • Pebble fuel design • Pebble fuel plant engineering design

Experience in Kernel Manufacture

Experience in Coated Particle Manufacture

Experience in Sphere Manufacture

Experience in Quality Control

• Re-activate laboratory at NECSA and produce standard UO2 “Qualification Fuel”

• Launch irradiation programme and qualify fuel produced locally • Design and build Fuel plant at NECSA in a new building • Plant throughput = 270 000 FS/a and modular in design for 4 lines

~ 1million FS/a • Can accommodate (Th,U)O2 or UO2 fuel cycles • Launch development programme to qualify Thorium containing fuel

Kernel Manufacturing

Heavy Metal Recovery

Coated Particle Manufacturing

Fuel Sphere Manufacturing

Effluent Treatment

Matrix Graphite Powder

Manufacturing

Re

ject

ed

Ke

rne

ls

Scrap Coated Particles

Discharge

Balance of Plant Systems

Rejected FS

Heavy Metal

Re

cove

red

HM

Storage of Fresh Fuel

Storage

of HM

Transport to Reactor

Rejected CPs

Kernel, $67.91

Coated Particle, $40.55

Matrix Graphite, $29.75

Fuel Sphere, $31.68

Thank-you