Sudden resignation of PBMR chief raises questions

As South Africa remains under electricity supply pressures on all fronts, its floundering nuclear energy sector also seems to have run into more heavy fog with the sudden resignation of Jaco Kriek, chief executive officer of South Africa’s Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (Pty) Ltd (PBMR). In the meantime, an Australian expert has warned that his country’s lack of a proper energy policy, also regarding nuclear energy, is on a “road to bankruptcy".

Kriek was seen as a key part of the leading force these past six years in retrieving the PBMR from the mothballs and giving it a spotlighted place both on the local and international energy stages.

He will assist with a handover process to his successor, while Dr Alex Tsela, currently PBMR’s general manager for Nuclear Compliance Assurance, has been appointed as the acting CEO.

No reasons have been given for Kriek's resignation.

In Australia, an energy-rich country like South Africa in terms of both coal and nuclear potential, a professor of Mining Geology at the University of Adelaide warned that the lack of a cohesive long-term energy policy could hold back development and have devastating long-term financial implications for the country.

“Without an energy policy, without going down the nuclear path in addition to our coal-fired power, we are putting ourselves on the road to bankruptcy,” Professor Ian Plimer said.

With what would be a familiar echo to many South African ears, he said among others that the country should look after its significant resources of cheap energy. He added that while sources such as solar and wind were expensive, “biofuels are starving people in third-world countries; and with nuclear, we have lost the skills and expertise we once had – although we now know that nuclear is a potentially cheaper option than coal.”

The departure of Kriek from PBMR puts in even more jeopardy the nuclear component of Eskom and the government’s plans to meet South Africa’s pressing future energy needs. It now seems increasingly likely that Eskom and the government are once again shelving the pebble-bed option in favour of a conventional nuclear upgrade.

And while Eskom still is running with expanding its conventional coal-fired capacity, that too is under pressure, particularly from a funding perspective, with environmental groups intensifying their lobbying of institutions such as the World Bank not to make available loans for coal-fired power stations.

In the renewable energy sector, skepticism continues to share a bed with careful optimism, following recent indications of greater government interest in that sector.

Further, it has emerged very recently that the government most likely will be unable to provide further loans to Eskom and will limit guarantees for Eskom’s loans, as it simply does not have the finances.

Eskom is struggling to raise R485 billion to build new capacity to meet future energy needs, while energy consumption once again is rising sharply, putting renewed pressure on the current capacity.