Eskom announced the shutdown of Koeberg’s Unit 1 generator on Wednesday, 11 September 2024, coinciding with Unit 2 also being offline, Cape {town} Etc reports.
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The decision has drawn criticism from energy expert Chris Yelland, who highlighted concerns over the lack of transparency surrounding the situation.
‘Five days after Koeberg Unit 1 has been shut down due to a fault, Eskom finally admits the shutdown after it was exposed in the media,’ Yelland remarked. He expressed frustration, stating, ‘This shows a complete lack of transparency and a level of contempt for the interests and concerns of the public by Eskom and the National Nuclear Regulator.’
Eskom clarified that Unit 1 was safely taken offline after one of its block valves failed during a routine three-month inspection. ‘The unit was shut down to restore redundancy of the stream pressure relief system as per operating technical specifications,’ the utility explained. They confirmed that the shutdown has not affected their load-shedding suspension and that the summer outlook remains in effect.
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Koeberg’s Unit 1 had only recently returned to service in November 2023, following an extensive maintenance period that included replacing steam generators and long-term refueling. Originally, the unit was scheduled to resume operations by June 2023, but various delays extended its downtime to nearly a year.
Eskom successfully completed a final critical test for Koeberg on 30 December 2023, with promising results that bode well for similar work planned for Unit 2. Notably, Koeberg celebrated 40 years of safe nuclear operation in July, contributing 1 800 MW of reliable baseload power to South Africa. Following maintenance work, the National Nuclear Regulator granted Unit 1 a 20-year operating license extension.
Currently, Unit 2 is offline for similar maintenance, having been shut down in December 2023. Minister of Electricity and Energy, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, emphasised that lessons learned from the previous maintenance on Unit 1 will guide the process for Unit 2.
‘We’ve learned from the mistakes related to Unit 1. We asked the team to adhere to the timelines for returning Unit 2,’ he stated.
As per Broadband, both units will require additional outages of approximately 200 days each following the replacement of Unit 2’s steam generators. The National Nuclear Regulator confirmed this requirement in early December 2023. Peter Bester, program manager for nuclear power stations at the NNR, noted, ‘For the foreseeable future, it is unlikely that both units will operate simultaneously.’
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Picture: Eskom
