Eskom, the South African state owned utility that has been involved in the research and development process for the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) since the early 1990s is also entertaining the idea of building additional light water reactors. The company classifies the PBMR as an R&D project and does not see it as a competitor, but as a compliment to larger, more proven nuclear power reactor technology.
According to Creamer Media’s Engineering News Online’s article titled State would like new and old nuclear options in the energy mix Eskom is also interested in reducing its portion of ownership in the PBMR project so that it can be more objective in determining the right generation mix for its future developments. This idea is a bit confusing to me, since the article reports that the purchaser of the shares currently owned by Eskom would likely be the government of South Africa, which also owns Eskom.
Perhaps there is a reader that can help me understand the difference between Eskom owning shares in PBMR and the government of South Africa owning shares in PBMR.
