Eskom says one Koeberg reactor at 6%

[mac_mac74]

for those that are interested in making a fast buck on generators

http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/eng/news/today/?show=97093

Can they get anything right?

Another bolt perhaps, whatever they do, just keep Alex Erwin outta there.

 

[Alan]

Just be happy they haven't managed to cause a complete meltdown.

Yet

 

[Syndyre]

The "yet" is the key word. Its bad enough having incompetent people running your power grid, when it starts to involve nuclear its even more scary.

 

[bwana]

Stott said a possible turbine problem caused an "automatic shutdown" of Unit 2 late on Sunday, but that it was still producing small amounts of power.

Does it worry anyone else that a shutdown doesnt actually mean the system is shut down?

 

[mac_mac74]

Does it worry anyone else that a shutdown doesnt actually mean the system is shut down?

i worry all the time, having goons like that running a power station, and some of the goons in our goverment is even more worrying, but what the hell, worrying aint gonna do much other than shorten our life span .

 

[bwana]

i worry all the time, having goons like that running a power station, and some of the goons in our goverment is even more worrying, but what the hell, worrying aint gonna do much other than shorten our life span .

People sometimes say PE could be the new Cape Town . . .

 

[mac_mac74]

People sometimes say PE could be the new Cape Town . . .

one weekend in PE , thats enough for me
beautiful place, but u can only do so much there

 

[Skeptik]

People sometimes say PE could be the new Cape Town . . .

Does that mean those Eastern-Capers will stop coming here and demanding houses? Hey, isn't there some spare land near those reactors?

 

[bwana]

one weekend in PE , thats enough for me
beautiful place, but u can only do so much there

Damn - you actually found something! What was it???

Does that mean those Eastern-Capers will stop coming here and demanding houses? Hey, isn't there some spare land near those reactors?

Property prices have gone flipping crazy around me.

 

[kilo39]

Well it seems eskom has no clue.

Here we have one story saying pebble bed construction at koeberg will start next year:

New reactor 'is a done deal' Sept 25 06
The pebble bed modular nuclear reactor (PBMR) plant for Koeberg is "a done deal", with building expected to start as early as the middle of next year.

That's the latest word on the reactor, which has been beset by controversy for close on a decade.

The PBMR company said it would be producing electricity for Cape Town by 2011.

and here we have a story saying we have no clue?

Eskom to decide on 2nd nuke plant Nov 08 06
Eskom will decide within six months whether to commission a second nuclear power plant to supplement its Cape Town Koeberg plant, Business Day's website reported on Wednesday.

Phumzile Tshelane, Eskomis technical strategy manager, said the company was considering several models of light water reactor from French and United States suppliers, and one type of heavy water reactor from a Canadian supplier.

I wonder if any eat bolts and what their regurgitation rate is (and notably any mention of a pebble bed has disappeared?)

Maybe Alec was right?

 

[kaspaas]

Does it worry anyone else that a shutdown doesnt actually mean the system is shut down?

A nuclear reactor continues to produce heat due to the continued nuclear reaction that happens. Even after shutdown, there are still piles of unstable isotopes in the reactor that goes down the natural decay path.

The answer is - yes, a reactor could be shutdown, but it will still release energy.

Another problem complicating this all, is that some of the isotopes that form during the decay process of unstable stuff in the reactor, actually grabs all available neutrons and can prevent the reactor for quite a while from starting up. (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_poison)

A shutdown does not always mean 0%

 

[bwana]

The answer is - yes, a reactor could be shutdown, but it will still release energy.

Thanks - not so concerned about the not so complete shutdown anymore.

 

[Alan]

The "yet" is the key word. Its bad enough having incompetent people running your power grid, when it starts to involve nuclear its even more scary.

Maybe it is a testament of nuclear power plant safety that there hasn't been any major emergencies at Koeberg.

 

[kaspaas]

Thanks - not so concerned anymore.

I'm very concerned.

To run a nuke plant reliably safely, it has to be done according to strict procedures.

The recent spate of problems places the ability of the current Eskom management to manage a nuclear plant to be run in a reliable and safe way.

The bolt episode being an extreme evidence of the management problems to get people to stay with procedures.

Let us hope it won't require a nuclear disaster to prove that skin colour should not be a factor in appointing anybody into any position.

Safety starts with the chairman of an organisation. If he does anything demotivating a cleaner, safety is compromised. Affirmative action is a major demotivator among whites - why should they take any effort - they know they won't be promoted as skin colour quotas is more important than any other factor.

Again: Let us hope it won't require a nuclear disaster to prove that skin colour should not be a factor in appointing anybody into any position.

 

[bwana]

I'm very concerned.

I've revised my earlier statement.

 

[mac_mac74]

Maybe it is a testament of nuclear power plant safety that there hasn't been any major emergencies at Koeberg.

...that we have heard of.

 

[Alan]

...that we have heard of.

I'm sure if there was a major one word would have got out.

 

[mancombseepgood]

More about pebble beds:

DISADVANTAGES:

Some oppose the PBMR because they advocate that the design to have the following disadvantages:

No Containment Building

Since the PBMR reactor relies upon convection for cooling, no containment building that is characteristic of today's LWRs is present. If any radiation breach of the reactor were to occur, there would be no barrier to the public (except for the coatings on the pebbles).

Fuel Pebble Risky

The reliance of radiation containment is placed on the coatings of the TRISO fuel particles. This may be a little risky since there are so many fuel pebbles used in the reactor. Admittedly, there is at least 1 defect per particle produced [AL1]. Figure 6 (ref. [AL1]) shows an example of where cracks may occur in the fuel particle. Whether or not these defects affect the performance significantly is to be determined.


Figure 6: Photomicrograph of Defective Fuel Particle Cross-section (ref. [AL1])

Large Amount of Waste

Since one of the major safety features of the PBMR is a low power density core, a core of high volume is naturally needed. This consequently produces more waste to dispose. The volume of pebble bed fuel is about 10 times higher than an equivalent LWR of a megawatt basis [4].

You guys can have Cape Town, I prefer to live in the less polluted part while enjoying the electricity produced by your pebble bed

 

[kaspaas]

...that we have heard of.

Koeberg is of the same type as Three Mile Island...

I doubt if anyone would like to hear of a major problem - a nuclear disaster is a real disaster.

Any safety officer in industry will tell you that when the minor incidents start to increase, the more serious ones will follow.

All these minor incidents at Koeberg is building up to a massive increased risk of a catastrophe.

 

[andres101]

this article was published on monday... the reactor should be back up to full power today.

do yourself a favour and go for a tour at koeberg. it will change your mind about the safety of nuclear power stations.