Eskom looking at nuclear power reactors

Newsfeed

Newsfeed

MyBroadband Newsfeed
Staff member
Joined
Jun 28, 2017
Messages
6,805
Reaction score
648
Eskom looking at nuclear power reactors

Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., South Africa’s indebted state power utility, is gauging interest from companies to develop and build small modular reactors using so-called pebble-bed technology and supplying the fuel they would need.

It will hold a meeting on the program on Feb. 12 and submissions must be made by the end of next month, the Johannesburg-based company said in a tender announcement Thursday. Eskom could also seek to sell all or part of the business.

[Bloomberg]
 
Oh feck off Eskom. The solution is right before your eyes but you refuse to implement it. This is just another avenue for looting. The minister was speaking about nuclear the other day and almost mentioned Rosatom before changing the sentence mid word to refer to nuclear providers.
 
They couldn't even build coal power plants (fyi, they didn't physically build them, they got other companies to build it), so the rot here is management. They can't manage to throw a going away party never mind build power plants. And those exEskom employees willing to help and having the experience TO help? Nope. Sorry, we're not interested.
 
Thor said:
Kak idea
Click to expand...
I like this idea. Because biogas is way more renewable and cheaper to convert a current sewage plant to do this. Municipalities who do sewage treatment can very quickly and cheaply self-provide and feed back to a grid. Instead of spending a couple of billion $ it'll cost a couple of million RAND.

kak works bro, kak works.
 
Arthur said:
Great idea. I fully support them giving this a serious look. The future is nuclear, and the sooner we go there the better.
Click to expand...
phys.org

Why nuclear power will never supply the world's energy needs

(PhysOrg.com) -- The 440 commercial nuclear reactors in use worldwide are currently helping to minimize our consumption of fossil fuels, but how much bigger can nuclear power get? In an analysis to be published in a future issue of the Proceedings of the IEEE, Derek Abbott, Professor of...
phys.org phys.org
Yeah no thanks. Also do you really trust the ANC with this?
 
Newsfeed said:
Eskom looking at nuclear power reactors

Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., South Africa’s indebted state power utility, is gauging interest from companies to develop and build small modular reactors using so-called pebble-bed technology and supplying the fuel they would need.

It will hold a meeting on the program on Feb. 12 and submissions must be made by the end of next month, the Johannesburg-based company said in a tender announcement Thursday. Eskom could also seek to sell all or part of the business.

[Bloomberg]
Click to expand...

:ROFL: :ROFL: :ROFL: :ROFL: :ROFL:


Chernobyl Season 2 here we come
 
Eskom should be focusing on getting it's house in order and stabilizing what it currently has. ideally starting to downsize and sell off assets.

All further energy expansion in this country should (MUST) be done privately.
 
From a technical and environmental view, this is excellent. I just don't trust the people in charge to do it correctly.

And Britain is busy planning on doing small modular reactors spread across the countryside. Rolls-Royce are developing them.
 
NarrowBandFtw said:
except ... the ANC is at the helm ...
Click to expand...
Swa said:
Also do you really trust the ANC with this?
Click to expand...
Counter-intuitive as it may seem, one very good reason why nuclear is perhaps our best option in SA is that a corrupt and incompetent ANC has the reigns of government and thus it claws deep into Eskom. That is a disaster, because they can't run a pissup in a brewery.

The degree of close international oversight by various international atomic agencies will force Eskom to run nuclear power stations to international standards ... which is not something that'll happen with coal, gas, or any other viable baseload generation. SA's nuclear power stations will be crawling with international experts, inspectors, engineers, etc, strict controls on nuclear fuels, etc, etc, etc ... and that'll really limit the ANC's ability to screw up baseload.

Case in point and proof: Koeberg. Right now, Koeberg is the only power station in SA that runs to international standards, is scrupulously serviced and maintained, and which has both local and international engineers and inspectors monitoring and ensuring everything runs right. That's precisely because it's nuclear. The international agencies, suppliers and experts would instantly force Eskom to shut down the station if there was any doubt about safety, something they can't do with conventional power plants and thereby perpetuating our energy woes were we to not go nuclear.

It's our best hope for decent and reliable baseload, as that can't happen with coal and conventional power systems because the ANC is too corrupt. In other words, going nuclear is the only way of ensuring our power stations are crawling with capable, qualified engineers implementing the most rigorous international safety standards - it's the only way SA will get the fuel to run the stations. Overnight it'll pull the rug out from under the feet of the ANC and transfer oversight and effective authority to international nuclear agencies. That's very positive.
 
Last edited:
Arthur said:
Counter-intuitive as it may seem, one very good reason why nuclear is perhaps our best option in SA is that a corrupt and incompetent ANC has the reigns of government and thus it claws deep into Eskom. That is a disaster, because they can't run a pissup in a brewery.

The degree of close international oversight by various international atomic agencies will force Eskom to run nuclear power stations to international standards ... which is not something that'll happen with coal, gas, or any other viable baseload generation. SA's nuclear power stations will be crawling with international experts, inspectors, engineers, etc, strict controls on nuclear fuels, etc, etc, etc ... and that'll really limit the ANC's ability to screw up baseload.

Case in point and proof: Koeberg. Right now, Koeberg is the only power station in SA that runs to international standards, is scrupulously serviced and maintained, and which has both local and international engineers and inspectors monitoring and ensuring everything runs right. That's precisely because it's nuclear. The international agencies, suppliers and experts would instantly force Eskom to shut down the station if there was any doubt about safety, something they can't do with conventional power plants and thereby perpetuating our energy woes were we to not go nuclear.

It's our best hope for decent and reliable baseload, as that can't happen with coal and conventional power systems because the ANC is too corrupt. In other words, going nuclear is the only way of ensuring our power stations are crawling with capable, qualified engineers implementing the most rigorous international safety standards - it's the only way SA will get the fuel to run the stations. Overnight it'll pull the rug out from under the feet of the ANC and transfer oversight and effective authority to international nuclear agencies. That's very positive.
Click to expand...
Koeberg? lol. The same Koeberg that was shut down because of a bolt accident. You know it was actually French technicians that were here at the time of the incident so incompetence seems to run far and wide. Last year it was reported that there were leaks. They claim it to be negligible yet can't put a figure to it because admittedly it was "unmeasurable". In 2016 there was an unexplainable drone accident. Then there's the issue of our practically unguarded nuclear stash. Yeah right, "oversight".

Oversight can't stop incompetence, sabotage or acts of terrorism. Once it's done it's done. Besides you think it would solve corruption? It won't as we've already seen. Anything the ANC takes on will cost at least 4x the initial budget. We simply cannot afford it even on a small scale and small scale is all it would ever be in any case. You know what base load is right? Nuclear has been shown to be a poor option when it comes to above base load generation.

You can't shut down and restart reactors the same as other generators so need to underprovide and then use storage for peak demand. Countries that have gone full nuclear have only been able to do so at a cost-effective price because they can export the excess and import the shortfall. If everyone becomes nuclear it does not work. So who around us will support our endeavour when we are the only ones exporting?
 
Swa said:
Koeberg? lol. The same Koeberg that was shut down because of a bolt accident. You know it was actually French technicians that were here at the time of the incident so incompetence seems to run far and wide. Last year it was reported that there were leaks. They claim it to be negligible yet can't put a figure to it because admittedly it was "unmeasurable". In 2016 there was an unexplainable drone accident. Then there's the issue of our practically unguarded nuclear stash. Yeah right, "oversight".

Oversight can't stop incompetence, sabotage or acts of terrorism. Once it's done it's done. Besides you think it would solve corruption? It won't as we've already seen. Anything the ANC takes on will cost at least 4x the initial budget. We simply cannot afford it even on a small scale and small scale is all it would ever be in any case. You know what base load is right? Nuclear has been shown to be a poor option when it comes to above base load generation.

You can't shut down and restart reactors the same as other generators so need to underprovide and then use storage for peak demand. Countries that have gone full nuclear have only been able to do so at a cost-effective price because they can export the excess and import the shortfall. If everyone becomes nuclear it does not work. So who around us will support our endeavour when we are the only ones exporting?
Click to expand...
Affirmative Action or Institutionalised Racism is affecting Koeberg too! White has to go and did! Yes, the frech technician on stand-by pointed out the blunder after the Automatik System Shutdown kicked-in. The ones who effed-up where never brought to justice though (because of the ANC). Needles to say, that incident raised eyebrows in the nuclear community and highlighted the issue with "Affirmative Action". It Was the main reason why I ended up on this forum. Thanks God, South Africa dismantled all nuclear weapon it had before handling over to the ANC.
To refresh your mind, here is a link highlighting the smear campaign by SA politicians. You See, it was not AA... #SoSad

Koeberg sabotage row erupts

Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin's claim that saboteurs were behind the shutdown of one of Koeberg's reactors last year has set off a political storm in the Western Cape.
www.iol.co.za www.iol.co.za
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Swa
Nuclear is the answer, Yes.
BUT..

With their track record of failing to maintain powerstations properly, they should not bother.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X