South Africa's Nuclear Energy and the HTMR-100 Reactor — Kelvin Kemm

14. 4. 2026

South Africa has been involved in nuclear development for more than 75 years. In 1948, the Atomic Energy Act established the Atomic Energy Board (AEB) — only two years after the United States created its own Atomic Energy Commission. South Africa's first nuclear research reactor, SAFARI-1, went critical in 1965, and the country's first large nuclear power station, Koeberg, came online in 1984.

In February 2010, the South African government announced it would stop funding the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) programme. Over US$1.3 billion had been invested in the project since 1993, making its cancellation one of the most consequential decisions in South African energy history.

But the technology did not disappear. 

A group of nuclear engineers and scientists pressed on independently, channelling the PBMR's intellectual legacy into a new design: the HTMR-100, an advanced Generation IV helium-cooled reactor. That effort eventually gave rise to Stratek Global, and it is an honour to speak with its Chairman and CEO, Dr Kelvin Kemm.

Kelvin Kemm

Dr Kelvin Kemm is a nuclear physicist and Chairman of Stratek Global, based in Pretoria, South Africa. He is the former Chairman of the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) and has been involved in South Africa's small modular reactor programme since its inception — a journey spanning more than two decades.

Dr Kemm has briefed the US Senate and Congress in Washington DC, and is a sought-after international speaker on nuclear energy, technology, and strategic development, having addressed audiences across Africa, Europe, Asia, and the United States.

Above all, he brings over 25 years of hands-on experience building small modular reactor technology from the ground up — making him one of the most knowledgeable voices in the field today.

Content
00:00 – Introduction and Overview of the Discussion
02:49 – Historical Development of Nuclear Reactor Technology in South Africa
17:29 – Eskom’s Operational and Financial Challenges: Assessing the Crisis
23:32 – Koeberg Nuclear Power Station: Operational Performance, Modernisation, and Life Extension
27:12 – Nuclear Fuel Procurement and Supply Chains for Koeberg
31:43 – Radioactive Waste Management at Koeberg Nuclear Power Station
36:04 – Development Status of South Africa’s HTMR-100 Small Modular Reactor
39:03 – HTMR-100 Reactor Concept: Design Principles, Mobility, and Scale
43:32 – Advanced Fuel Architecture of the HTMR-100 Reactor
47:58 – International Cooperation in Deploying HTMR-100 Nuclear Power Plants
51:09 – Nuclear Science and Engineering Education in South Africa: Training the Next Generation
55:09 – The Geopolitics of Nuclear Energy
57:49 – Debates and Critiques of Renewable Energy Policy in South Africa
01:03:10 – Pan-African Institutional Support for Nuclear Energy Development in Africa