Eben Mulder
Nuclear Engineer: Pebble Bed Reactor Technology
Born
in Welkom
South Africa
Eben is a Director of Steenkampskraal Thorium Limited (STL). As part of the activities in STL he continues with design activities as an extension to the work of the now defunct PBMR program in South Africa. The aim of STL is to continue with the momentum of designing and to deploy small sized, intrinsically safe, Generation IV pebble bed high temperature gas-cooled reactors. The incumbent believes that the perfect match for this reactor type exists through the demand for distributed, base-load energy.
Currently, he also serves as Head of the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering as part of the School of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering at the North-West University in the capacity of Full Professor within the Faculty of Engineering. In 2005 the incumbent formed part of the founding team of this School.
Eben is registered as a Professional Scientist with the South African Council for Natural Sciences (SACNAS) and is a member of various scientific and professional societies including the Institution of Nuclear Engineers (INucE), elected member of the South African Academy of Sciences (SAKAD), and the American Nuclear Society (ANS).
He is a reactor engineer experienced in the design and safety analysis of innovative nuclear reactors, as well as operating nuclear plant. His career path has led to the design of the South African direct cycle helium-cooled high-temperature pebble bed reactor. He assisted in successfully establishing a Systems Engineering house for design activities, involving the reactor and thermal-hydraulic flow path layout, whilst being coupled to a closed-loop Brayton cycle.
Eben Mulder's Professional details
Current Position(s)
Mining, Energy and Natural Resources
Beneficiation of thorium through fuel development program for LWRs and HTRs. These activities include:
1. Development of the rich thorium reserves at the Steenkampskraal mining site;
2. Irradiation of the thorium/plutonium MOX fuel for light water reactors;
3. Development of the Th-100 pebble bed HTGR for base-load electricity supply and process heat applications;
4. Development of the pebble fuel for the Th-100 reactors.
Professor | School for Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering | North West University
Potchefstroom, South Africa | 2009 - present
Academia, Education and Training
Leading the Department of Nuclear Engineering;
Teaching post graduate courses in Nuclear Engineering;
Leading of M- and PhD-level students.
Previous Position(s)
Chief Scientific Officer | PBMR
Pretoria, South Africa | 1998 - 2006
Mining, Energy and Natural Resources
Responsible for the PBMR neutronics design. Review of development and design of related systems.
Portfolio
Full-scope design of the Th-100 pebble bed high-temperature gas-cooled reactor.
Serve on the Steering Committee of a MOX fuel development program for light water reactors. The 5-year irradiation programme will be conducted at the Halden materials test reactor, whilst the post irradiated examinations will be performed within the Institute for Energy Technology at Kjeller, Norway.
Aim is to develop / beneficiate the rich resource of thorium at the Steenkampskraal mine in Namaqualand, South Africa.
Educational history
Secondary
High School Roodepoort, Roodepoort (1975)
Tertiary
Aachen, Germany | 1997 - 1998
Dr.-Ing. - Nuclear Engineering
Design of Gen IV type reactors featuring, intrinsic safety characteristics, advanced fuel cycle designs, reactivity control and shutdown system design, multi-scale multi-physics characteristics within coupled neutronics and thermal fluid systems.
Port Elizabeth, South Africa | 1981 - 1982
M.Sc. - Maths
