L'Afrique du Sud se dote d'une agence spatiale

Vendredi 16 Janvier 2009

Le président par intérim sud-africain, Kgalema Motlanthe, a signé jeudi 15 janvier un projet de loi qui permettra au pays de créer sa propre agence spatiale, d'après des indications du Département sud-africain des sciences et de la technologie.

Le porte-parole Nhlanhla Nyide a estimé que l'acte pourrait permettre au pays de lier ensemble toutes les activités liées à l'espace à la fin de cette année.

"L'agence supervisera le développement des missions spatiales, développera les plateformes technologiques, acquerra, assimilera et disséminera les données du satellite spatial dans tout organe étatique," a-t-il déclaré.

L'agence a été approuvée par le cabinet en décembre 2008 pour stimuler les capacités du pays au sein des grandes nations dans l'utilisation novatrice des sciences et technologies spatiales.

"Le projet devrait stimuler l'économie et créer des emplois supplémentaires. La première étape vers sa création est de désigner un conseil de 10 à 15 membres, un directeur exécutif qui est un membre de droit, et un président nommé par le ministre des Sciences et de la technologie," a déclaré Nyide.

Il coordonnera certains des projets tels que (...) le Southern African Large Telescope et le lancement de deuxième satelite local de l'Afrique du sud, Sumbandilasat.

SA’s first nuclear fuel

Friday, 16 January 2009

South African based nuclear design company, Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR), has successfully manufactured a new nuclear fuel particle which is a ‘first for Africa’, the company announced on Tuesday.

The new uranium-dioxide coated particles will form the basis of a high temperature reactor fuel, containing 9.6% enriched uranium.

The fuel particles have now been shipped to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in the US, where the particles will undergo irradiation testing, PBMR said in a statement.

CEO Jaco Kriek noted that the new fuel is a key driver in PBMR’s backing by the Westinghouse-led consortium, which in 2006 was awarded a contract by the US Department of Energy to consider the PBMR technology.

PBMR consider that "no human error or equipment failure could cause an accident that would harm the public," due to the reactor’s inherent safety designs.

“We have conducted extensive development work and we are satisfied that the coated particles that were produced for testing will provide proof and assurance that the PBMR will perform to its predicted best-in-the-world safety capabilities,” says Kriek.

Kriek said that the successful manufacturing of the coated particles was the culmination of several years of intense development work at PBMR’s laboratories.

The nuclear particle is based on a high-quality German fuel design used in the German AVR research reactor, which was successfully operated for 21 years.

The PBMR fuel differs from conventional nuclear fuel in that the particle coating, which forms a part of the fuel, acts as the fission product barrier. Conventional nuclear fuel uses a metal barrier.

Why this fuel is special
“Normal nuclear fuel (a large core of enriched uranium) gets hotter and hotter, and therefore has to be cooled. This new fuel achieves the same results but without the threat of overheating,” said Dr. Rui Krause, a senior lecturer at the University of Johannesburg.

“These fuel balls act as mini-reactors; with a pebble of enriched uranium coated in a number of materials, mostly different forms of carbon; making a pellet the size of a tennis ball. On its own the heat is minimal, but lots of them would achieve the same result as any other nuclear reactor,” said Dr. Krause.

This fuel is one step in a long line of development aimed at creating a safer form of nuclear reactor. The fuel cells alone have been 9 to 10 years in the making.

“These fuel cells are the result of a good decade or so of science,” said Dr. Krause.

“Globally we need to move away from carbon based fuel, for cleaner alternatives. Wind and solar power would be ideal, but these are inefficient at the moment and costly to install. Globally there is a growing understanding that we need to bit the bullet and use nuclear energy. The world must decide how long this will be.”

“This fuel has made a significant impact, as new plants will face environmental impact problems and civil opposition, and hence governments take risks using nuclear power. This type of fuel development allows them to go for something with the same amount of energy but far safer.”

According to Dr Krause South Africa, through PMBR, will be one of the primary producers of this new fuel, as we hold all the technology that has been developed. “These cells need to be replaced, and are only active for about 6 – 10 years, so new balls constantly need to be added.”

Another benefit to these new fuel cells is the reduction of the threat posed by large amounts of depleted uranium. “From a large core of depleted uranium one can still extract enough undeleted uranium to, lets say, manufacture a nuclear bomb; a proposition that has scared governments in the past. However this new fuel reduces the amount of uranium and removes that threat almost completely,” said Dr. Krause.

Optimism beats pessimism in SA business

Friday, 16 January 2009
The Grant Thornton consultancy group released a survey showing that South African owned businesses are the 6th most optimistic in the world for 2009.

Last year South Africa was ranked 9th of the 36 countries surveyed in Grant Thornton’s 2009 International Business Report, which assesses private business expectations for the year ahead.

In South Africa, 35% of privately held businesses are more optimistic than pessimistic about 2009 (compared to 75% in 2008); with a consensus that falling consumer demand and the shortage of business credit are the biggest demands facing privately held businesses.

In comparison 46% of private business owners in Japan are more pessimistic than optimistic about the coming year.

Within the context of the survey, South Africa is one of the only countries that continues to remain optimistic about growth in business areas, such as selling prices, turnover, profitability, exports and employment.

Within South Africa, the most optimistic province is Gauteng at 40%. Gauteng also reported the highest expectations for increased employment at 21%.

“Despite the slump in optimism, there are still pockets of hope in the South African marketplace and it is no coincidence that privately held businesses are some of the first to realise this,” said National Chairman of Grant Thornton Leonard Brehm.

“While privately held businesses worldwide are preparing for a prolonged and painful downturn real opportunities exist, especially in South Africa.’’

Dennis Dykes, Chief Economist of the Nedbank Group, says that the results of the survey are not surprising. “Sentiment around the world has turned overwhelmingly negative as the effects of the financial crisis started becoming apparent. South Africa has been relatively shielded by a healthy banking system as well as the fixed investment boom ahead of the FIFA 2010 World Cup. Additionally, the 2010 event should continue to soften the effects of the global crisis, and lower interest rates and oil prices should help a modest recovery in the second half of the year.”

South African business expectations saw marginal declines in selling prices (down from 64% in 2008 to 60% in 2009) and exports (down 25% to 20%).

There were more dramatic declines in employment expectations (down from 43% to 11% year-on-year) and profitability (down from 53% optimistic in 2008 to 21% in 2009).

South Africa is not alone in being optimistic about 2009. Botswana is the only other sub-Saharan country which participated in the IBR 2009, and the country’s business optimism soared from 66% in 2008 to 81% in 2009. This ranked Botswana as the second most optimistic country in the survey, behind India, and the country whose business optimism levels increased the most from 2008.

EADS : Air Austral prévoit de commander 2 A380 !

Un nouveau client en vue pour l'A380 ! Air Austral, compagnie aérienne basée à Saint Denis de La Réunion, a signé un protocole d'accord avec Airbus portant sur l'acquisition de deux A380 en configuration classe unique. "Dans cette configuration, l'A380 affichera une consommation de carburant par passager sans précédent, renforçant d'autant plus l'éco-efficience de cet appareil", selon l'avionneur.

Dans cet aménagement à classe unique, l'A380 accueillera quelque 840 passagers, tout en offrant les sièges les plus larges en classe économique et la cabine la plus silencieuse du marché. Air Austral prévoit d'exploiter l'A380 par une de ses filiales sur ses lignes à forte densité entre La Réunion et Paris. Le choix des réacteurs n'a pas encore été arrêté.

Mauritius to showcase its attractions in London

15/01/2009

Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority will showcase the country as an ideal location for meetings, conferences and events in London on 5 March.

A release issued by the authority on Thursday in the capital Port Louis said the “Mauritius MICE Showcase 2009” will be held at the Hyde Park Intercontinental.

Visitors will be able to meet with representatives of some 20 Mauritian hotels including five star hotels such as Four Seasons Resort Mauritius, Intercontinental Mauritius and Mauritius Resort Balaclava Fort.

Representatives of the national airline, Air Mauritius, will also be at hand to give details on the different tariffs that the airline can offer, the statement said.

The authority said it will be organizing a \"Roadshow\" spectacle 9-13 February in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town in South African.

Vice Prime Minister and Tourism Minister Xavier-Luc Duval will lead the group of participants. This will be the first “Roadshow” in South Africa.