SGL Signs Contract with PBMR

SGL Carbon and the South African nuclear energy company “Pebble Bed Modular Reactor” PBMR (Pty) Ltd. have signed a major contract in Pretoria. This agreement is under the framework of cooperation in the construction of pebble bed modular reactors in South Africa, which was announced on August 22, 2005. The partial agreement covers the production of graphite for a demonstration reactor that is to supply electricity beginning in 2011.

PBMR is owned by a consortium comprising the largest South African energy supplier, Eskom, as well as the state-owned development finance institution Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC), and British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL). PBMR has the ambition to construct commercially operating pebble bed modular reactors for electric power generation in South Africa beginning in 2013. As an alternative to non-renewable fossil fuel resources, PBMR te chnology is to be utilized in the near future as a low-cost, CO2-free form of energy production.

PBMR selected SGL Carbon as a strategic supplier because of the latter’s expertise in the production and development of highest quality graphite. The two companies have been working together for a number of years on the development of materials for use in PBMR technology. The planned construction of a demonstration reactor in South Africa beginning in 2007 could translate into sales of € 35 to € 40 million during the period 2006 to 2008 for the Specialties Business Unit of SGL Carbon.

http://www.sglcarbon.com