Where should the national R&D in materials science fit into South Africa’s future nuclear power programme?

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Authors

Stumpf, Waldo E.

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy

Abstract

South Africa recently announced a resurgence in its commercial nuclear power programme. The implications for the development of the necessary high-level manpower within South Africa’s tertiary educational system and its national research and development (R&D) capacity in materials science and engineering, as well as in other engineering disciplines, are placed into perspective. An organized national process of developing this manpower by moving away from the previously high-risk and costly ’large programmes’ to rather a selection of ‘small and better’ research projects and a redefinition of what constitutes ‘nuclear materials’ are proposed as parts of this strategy.

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Keywords

Materials science, Pressurised water reactor, Zirconium based cladding materials, Uranium enrichment, Steam generator

Sustainable Development Goals

Citation

Stumpf, WE 2015, 'Where should the national R&D in materials science fit into South Africa’s future nuclear power programme?', Journal of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, vol. 115, pp. 893-902.