Well I can tell you based on Eskom's track record that it is possible
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Just how bad are things at Eskom?
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Well I can tell you based on Eskom's track record that it is possible
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Lol.
OMB
Mountain Man
do you have any fundamental idea of how a nuclear plant operates?
No I don't... So please enlighten me
MickeyD
RIP
So you don't have any facts?
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Let me help him out, when a fuel rod is spent it doesn't generate heat anymore and you need to replace them. Btw nuclear energy is just a heat source, the rest of the plant is based on old steam turbine technology.
Yeah I was not saying nuclear explosion.......
Of course I don't, just like 90% of us here...
pedruid
Expert Member
This what has happened at Lethabo and Duvha.
Below isthe latest story on Lethabo Power Station - dating from the end of November this year. Now I know a lot about this power station as my company *******built the overland ash conveyors in about 1985. They were huge - 1.65 m wide and running at 3.3 m/sec and were designed to remove enormous quantities of ash, as Lethabo burns coal with a calorific value of 15 - 16 MJ/kg and an ash content of 42%. (Compare this with the "good" coal we sell to China at 24 MJ/kg and anthracite at 32 MJ/kg). It is the only power station in the world running on such low grade coal. The coal is sourced from an open pit mine nearby and it is of very poor quality, BUT it was designed expressly for this by Babcock in the UK. The ash is transported several km and dumped into the worked out coal mine and then covered with the soil that has been stockpiled from the open cast mining. This system and the conveyors worked perfectly and we even got an award for the project. They evidently continued to work for another 25 years or so until the incompetents were appointed. See the Google view attached - on which one can see plumes of dust blowing from the ash stockpile, which is meant to be kept damp to prevent just that.
This supplements the story on the woes of Duvha decribed in the attached e-mail. That story is in fact a little old as it happened in February 2011 when the unit failed catastrophically while performing over speed testing. The units are over speed rated at 3600rpm and the last recorded speed before failure was 4250 rpm. Even before this, in January 2003, Unit 2 generator exploded while being returned to service after a malfunction. But in February 2014 former Eskom CEO Brian Dames disclosed that the coal conveyor belt that transports coal from the adjacent mine to Duvha was damaged in December, resulting in significant coal supply challenges for the station. Duvha is the first power station in South Africa to have a black power station manager, Ehud Matya.
Lethabo -
As Eskom fights to keep the lights on another power station is on the verge of collapse.
The Times can reveal that vital sections of Lethabo power station, in the Vaal Triangle, which contributes about 10% of the energy carried by the national grid, is buried beneath tons of ash. The power station's near-collapse has been a month coming. Employees have repeatedly warned of impeding critical equipment failures. But the warnings appear to have been ignored, resulting in conveyor belts used to transport ash failing. The failure has led to two of six power-generating units being unable to function.
Compounding the power station's problems is a leak of highly toxic acid from the spillage catchment system. This is yet to be repaired and fears are mounting that the acid could seep into the area's underground-water system. The station is built right on the banks of the Vaal River
Earlier this month a silo collapsed at Majuba power station, in Mpumalanga, and several generators were shut down for planned and unplanned maintenance.Two weeks ago, Eskom management instituted load-shedding as the national grid came under increasing pressure.
Eskom CEO Tshediso Matona denied two days ago that the problems at the power stations were because of poor maintenance. He ascribed them to "random incidents that we (my emphasis - CJE) cannot predict".But a Lethabo insider yesterday said management had been warned about the likelihood of conveyor belt failures and other problems, Including impending chemical spills. "It is a disaster. The plant is falling apart. Months ago they were told it was dire. Warnings were ignored ' .
On Saturday, units two and three failed. They tripped because the ash from the hoppers could not be emptied quickly.He said the ash build-up was huge, "especially inside the plant"."Vital equipment is covered beneath tons of ash. The emergency ash-collection area is overflowing beyond legal limits."The situation is so bad that at night ash is being blown out above the legal limits to try to get rid of as much as possible."Tons of ash are blowing over Sasolburg and Deneysville and their informal settlements."
A Deneysville Clinic nurse said there had been an increase in people reporting respiratory problems - on average, 10 a day."We thought it was a change in seasons, but it's not."Hein Lourens, Deneysville's pharmacist, said he has had to restock medications for chest infections several times."The problem is particularly bad at night."He said that when he drove towards the plant last week it looked as if a heavy rain storm was hanging over it."Not until I was there did I see that it was ash."
Eskom spokesman Sipho Neke confirmed the failure of the ash-plant equipment."This resulted in significant ash backlog on the precipitator hoppers - filters that remove dust - of all six generating units."Another unit was offline for repairs and production from the other units was reduced to lower emissions."It is not known how long it will take to restore the units to normal operational level," he said. Neke said the conveyor belt breakdown was not an isolated incident.Neke blamed the generator downtime on unreliable ash-plant equipment and lightning.He said maintenance teams were continually making repairs but had fallen behind schedule and the ash backlog was a consequence.Neke said Lethabo was operating within legal limits in terms of emissions - and would be forced to shut down if it did not.
Energy analyst Ted Blom said the coal used at the plant was close to as useless rock as one could get."Eskom deliberately uses this coal because it comes from the country’s largest reserve blocks that are left."He said Eskom had an alternative, which was to mine coal in the Free State."This is, however, a lot deeper than the current coalfields."Blom said
Lethabo was designed to produce almost 10% (3700MW) of the national power grid's requirements (40000MW)."Of the 40000MW, a sixth is not available because it is hydropower and the country's rivers are dry. Another 4000MW should be supplied by gas-powered generators but the gas systems are designed to work for only two hours a day."In terms of 24-hour-a-day capacity, just over 34000MW were meant to be supplied constantly.
"Of the units supplying this, 10% should be under maintenance, leaving 31000MW."The problem is that, on top of the 10% [lost because of] planned maintenance, Eskom has another 10% [lost to] breakdowns, leaving 28000MW – not enough to power the country."
Blow said lots of power plants were fitted with pollution scrubbers. "The problem is is that if you operate them, they require 10% of the plant’s power to operate. If you are in trouble like Lethabo and you don't have enough electricity you turn them off, giving the plant a higher power output. But it's at the cost of pollution."He said that, since 2010, under former CEO Brian Dames, Eskom had reduced maintenance work by 80%."This caused slag build-up in the boilers and boiler meltdowns," Blom said.He said the only way in which Eskom could maintain its energy output was to use its gas turbines.
"But the problem with this is cost. Last year, Eskom burned R10-billion of diesel on a R2-billion budget."If they continue to burn [gas turbines] at this rate it will cost them R120-billion, exceeding Eskom's R80-billion turnover."We have a power meltdown."Blom said the solution was easy and could be done within 12 months.He said allowing private households to erect solar panels and feed into the national power grid on the basis that they were allowed to reverse their meteres, could solve Eskom's woes."It would, however, mean the utility would become insolvent because their revenue would be reduced substantially."
Eskom: Ashes to ashes!!!
http://www.timeslive.co.za/Feeds/20...pg/ALTERNATES/crop_630x400/1164566_968493.jpg
NO, IT'S NOT SNOWING: Emergency ash-collection areas at Eskom's Lethabo power station in the
Vaal Triangle, near Deneysville, have reached alarming levels after conveyer belts broke down recently
http://www.timeslive.co.za/Feeds/20...pg/ALTERNATES/crop_630x400/1164566_968494.jpg
CHOKED UP: Tons of ash have been building up inside the plant
http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2014/11/26/ash5.jpg/ALTERNATES/crop_630x400/ash5.jpg
http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2014/11/26/ash6.jpg/ALTERNATES/crop_630x400/ash6.jpg
Emergency ash dump at power plant
Below isthe latest story on Lethabo Power Station - dating from the end of November this year. Now I know a lot about this power station as my company *******built the overland ash conveyors in about 1985. They were huge - 1.65 m wide and running at 3.3 m/sec and were designed to remove enormous quantities of ash, as Lethabo burns coal with a calorific value of 15 - 16 MJ/kg and an ash content of 42%. (Compare this with the "good" coal we sell to China at 24 MJ/kg and anthracite at 32 MJ/kg). It is the only power station in the world running on such low grade coal. The coal is sourced from an open pit mine nearby and it is of very poor quality, BUT it was designed expressly for this by Babcock in the UK. The ash is transported several km and dumped into the worked out coal mine and then covered with the soil that has been stockpiled from the open cast mining. This system and the conveyors worked perfectly and we even got an award for the project. They evidently continued to work for another 25 years or so until the incompetents were appointed. See the Google view attached - on which one can see plumes of dust blowing from the ash stockpile, which is meant to be kept damp to prevent just that.
This supplements the story on the woes of Duvha decribed in the attached e-mail. That story is in fact a little old as it happened in February 2011 when the unit failed catastrophically while performing over speed testing. The units are over speed rated at 3600rpm and the last recorded speed before failure was 4250 rpm. Even before this, in January 2003, Unit 2 generator exploded while being returned to service after a malfunction. But in February 2014 former Eskom CEO Brian Dames disclosed that the coal conveyor belt that transports coal from the adjacent mine to Duvha was damaged in December, resulting in significant coal supply challenges for the station. Duvha is the first power station in South Africa to have a black power station manager, Ehud Matya.
Lethabo -
As Eskom fights to keep the lights on another power station is on the verge of collapse.
The Times can reveal that vital sections of Lethabo power station, in the Vaal Triangle, which contributes about 10% of the energy carried by the national grid, is buried beneath tons of ash. The power station's near-collapse has been a month coming. Employees have repeatedly warned of impeding critical equipment failures. But the warnings appear to have been ignored, resulting in conveyor belts used to transport ash failing. The failure has led to two of six power-generating units being unable to function.
Compounding the power station's problems is a leak of highly toxic acid from the spillage catchment system. This is yet to be repaired and fears are mounting that the acid could seep into the area's underground-water system. The station is built right on the banks of the Vaal River
Earlier this month a silo collapsed at Majuba power station, in Mpumalanga, and several generators were shut down for planned and unplanned maintenance.Two weeks ago, Eskom management instituted load-shedding as the national grid came under increasing pressure.
Eskom CEO Tshediso Matona denied two days ago that the problems at the power stations were because of poor maintenance. He ascribed them to "random incidents that we (my emphasis - CJE) cannot predict".But a Lethabo insider yesterday said management had been warned about the likelihood of conveyor belt failures and other problems, Including impending chemical spills. "It is a disaster. The plant is falling apart. Months ago they were told it was dire. Warnings were ignored ' .
On Saturday, units two and three failed. They tripped because the ash from the hoppers could not be emptied quickly.He said the ash build-up was huge, "especially inside the plant"."Vital equipment is covered beneath tons of ash. The emergency ash-collection area is overflowing beyond legal limits."The situation is so bad that at night ash is being blown out above the legal limits to try to get rid of as much as possible."Tons of ash are blowing over Sasolburg and Deneysville and their informal settlements."
A Deneysville Clinic nurse said there had been an increase in people reporting respiratory problems - on average, 10 a day."We thought it was a change in seasons, but it's not."Hein Lourens, Deneysville's pharmacist, said he has had to restock medications for chest infections several times."The problem is particularly bad at night."He said that when he drove towards the plant last week it looked as if a heavy rain storm was hanging over it."Not until I was there did I see that it was ash."
Eskom spokesman Sipho Neke confirmed the failure of the ash-plant equipment."This resulted in significant ash backlog on the precipitator hoppers - filters that remove dust - of all six generating units."Another unit was offline for repairs and production from the other units was reduced to lower emissions."It is not known how long it will take to restore the units to normal operational level," he said. Neke said the conveyor belt breakdown was not an isolated incident.Neke blamed the generator downtime on unreliable ash-plant equipment and lightning.He said maintenance teams were continually making repairs but had fallen behind schedule and the ash backlog was a consequence.Neke said Lethabo was operating within legal limits in terms of emissions - and would be forced to shut down if it did not.
Energy analyst Ted Blom said the coal used at the plant was close to as useless rock as one could get."Eskom deliberately uses this coal because it comes from the country’s largest reserve blocks that are left."He said Eskom had an alternative, which was to mine coal in the Free State."This is, however, a lot deeper than the current coalfields."Blom said
Lethabo was designed to produce almost 10% (3700MW) of the national power grid's requirements (40000MW)."Of the 40000MW, a sixth is not available because it is hydropower and the country's rivers are dry. Another 4000MW should be supplied by gas-powered generators but the gas systems are designed to work for only two hours a day."In terms of 24-hour-a-day capacity, just over 34000MW were meant to be supplied constantly.
"Of the units supplying this, 10% should be under maintenance, leaving 31000MW."The problem is that, on top of the 10% [lost because of] planned maintenance, Eskom has another 10% [lost to] breakdowns, leaving 28000MW – not enough to power the country."
Blow said lots of power plants were fitted with pollution scrubbers. "The problem is is that if you operate them, they require 10% of the plant’s power to operate. If you are in trouble like Lethabo and you don't have enough electricity you turn them off, giving the plant a higher power output. But it's at the cost of pollution."He said that, since 2010, under former CEO Brian Dames, Eskom had reduced maintenance work by 80%."This caused slag build-up in the boilers and boiler meltdowns," Blom said.He said the only way in which Eskom could maintain its energy output was to use its gas turbines.
"But the problem with this is cost. Last year, Eskom burned R10-billion of diesel on a R2-billion budget."If they continue to burn [gas turbines] at this rate it will cost them R120-billion, exceeding Eskom's R80-billion turnover."We have a power meltdown."Blom said the solution was easy and could be done within 12 months.He said allowing private households to erect solar panels and feed into the national power grid on the basis that they were allowed to reverse their meteres, could solve Eskom's woes."It would, however, mean the utility would become insolvent because their revenue would be reduced substantially."
Eskom: Ashes to ashes!!!
http://www.timeslive.co.za/Feeds/20...pg/ALTERNATES/crop_630x400/1164566_968493.jpg
NO, IT'S NOT SNOWING: Emergency ash-collection areas at Eskom's Lethabo power station in the
Vaal Triangle, near Deneysville, have reached alarming levels after conveyer belts broke down recently
http://www.timeslive.co.za/Feeds/20...pg/ALTERNATES/crop_630x400/1164566_968494.jpg
CHOKED UP: Tons of ash have been building up inside the plant
http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2014/11/26/ash5.jpg/ALTERNATES/crop_630x400/ash5.jpg
http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2014/11/26/ash6.jpg/ALTERNATES/crop_630x400/ash6.jpg
Emergency ash dump at power plant
Last edited:
OMB
Mountain Man
If they don't generate heat why are they stored in spent fuel pools for 10-20yrs (besides radiation leakage)?
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Because it's radioactive. If it continued to generate enough heat why not just keep using it? 
But I'm hardly an expert. Maybe someone else can enlighten us.
But I'm hardly an expert. Maybe someone else can enlighten us.
SyBerianWulff
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It's classified as spent fuel as it no longer contains material with enriched atoms for sustaining a chain reaction for nuclear fission. The heat generated is simply a process of radioactive decay, which releases alpha, beta and gamma rays ( essentially helium and heat ) as the material follows its half-life course. Once the material has cooled from 700+ 'c to a more manageable 50'c, they then bury it or whatever method is prescribed.
WaxLyrical
Honorary Master
Not that badly affected this far..
Touch wood.
Touch wood.
Bern
Expert Member
Thanks for thisappreciate it
Koeberg also recently took down each reactor for maintenance, not sure if you remember that.
Um, radiation leakage...! Then there is heat vs HEAT, while they may not be viable for full grade energy production they are not quite spent enough not to emit some hazardous radiation.
Great info that a lot of people do not know about.
The CEO said there is NO power crisis. This was said yesterday! He obviously is too ignorant to grasp the seriousness of the situation. HE has rediculed the SA public with his k*k comments.
Does this turkey realise we not dumb unlike the majority of ANC followers. The rand is at its lowest in 6 years, companies are losing millions and he has the gall to make such a statement.
Him, Brown and Petersen need to resign as they as useless as each other.
Does this turkey realise we not dumb unlike the majority of ANC followers. The rand is at its lowest in 6 years, companies are losing millions and he has the gall to make such a statement.
Him, Brown and Petersen need to resign as they as useless as each other.
Taken from Eskom's twitter page
"Eskom generates, transmits and distributes approximately 95% of the electricity used in South Africa & approximately 45% of the electricity used in Africa."
Why don't they take back the 45% they are giving other african countries and use it inside South Africa?
"Eskom generates, transmits and distributes approximately 95% of the electricity used in South Africa & approximately 45% of the electricity used in Africa."
Why don't they take back the 45% they are giving other african countries and use it inside South Africa?
