SAIEE Western Cape Centre
March Lecture Presentation

Under the Hood of the FOAKE 165MWe Pebble Bed Modular Reactor
Between 2000 and 2004, South Africa established itself as a leader in the research and development of new-generation-nuclear-energy through its 165MWe Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) project. On a daily basis, hundreds of PBMR scientists and engineers, confronted with new and oftentimes daunting challenges produced a plethora of untested First-of-a-Kind- Engineering (FOAKE) concepts.. A High Impact Team (HIT), was established to test FOAKE concepts and where necessary, design processes to make them practicable. HIT responsibility extended to inter alia: advising on modularity; sourcing and manufacturing of equipment (while maximising local content); developing heavy lift and transport strategies; developing construction and installation methodologies and sequencing; advising on costs and schedule; the nuclear licensing process; waste handling and decommissioning at end of plant life. HIT provided strategic inputs into the 2003 Detailed Feasibility Report as well as the planning for the Demonstration Plant.
Presenter: Warren Conrad (B.Sc Wits)
Warren Conrad is a curious person. He believes that his curiosity, when coupled with his experience and his grasp of science, engineering and technology, places him a position to provide unique insights into new and innovative developments. His fascination extends beyond the manifest or tangible innovations outputs but also embraces the thinking processes that give birth to new ideas and innovations. Warren operates well under conditions of uncertainty and ambiguity. This has steered his career and the choice of projects in a FOAK or First-of-a-kind direction. The work he did on the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor fed both his curiosity and willingness to work with uncertainty and ambiguity.
Warren Conrad qualified as an Electrical Fitter in the South African Naval Dockyard in Simonstown in 1977. Between 1978 and 1983, Warren worked as an Electrician, a Chargehand, Foreman, Supervisor and Contracts Manager on various Electrical and Instrumentation construction projects for Murray and Roberts. In 1984, at the age of 28, he enrolled for a B Sc (Electrical Engineering) at the University of the Witwatersrand. He graduated in 1988. Warren’s career that followed included very little Electrical Engineering, but created a trajectory that built a deep understanding of multi-disciplinary engineering.
RSVP: Washiela Arendse admin.wcape@saiee.org.za or event link
https://www.saiee.org.za/calendar/EventDetails.aspx?eeid=29381