Thumbs up for Eskom

Hey, I think you've lost the plot. You're not suppose to root FOR Eskom. If they do their job, we only show silent approval.

:rolleyes:
 
So quick?

What I find odd about this latest report is how Eskom got it up and running so quickly.

From my limited knowledge of how Koeberg works, once you shut down a Reactor it takes several days, maybe a week, to resynchronize into the grid?
I can only assume the problem was a minor one and perhaps they decided to let the remaining Reactor run in the interim while Alstom fix the fault with the other one. Just a guess.

Seems the faults Eskom have had with Koeberg don't emanate from the Reactor, thank heavens, but from the peripheral equipment that run off it.
Silly things like leaking pipes etc. See my comment elsewhere about how many of the stainless steel pipes were welded with normal welding rods back in the early days. Maybe a lot of poor workmanship from yesteryear are coming back to haunt the maintenance teams. Sure they are not complaining?
 
BTTB said:
Silly things like leaking pipes etc. See my comment elsewhere about how many of the stainless steel pipes were welded with normal welding rods back in the early days. Maybe a lot of poor workmanship from yesteryear are coming back to haunt the maintenance teams.
Click to expand...

I find it interesting, and appreciate, your recognition of the fact that a lot of the current issues are not of the current governments doing but the bad workmanship of the old "regime". Yes, the current government were warned about, and should have recognised, the problems that were to occur but by the same token the same can be said about the NP. It is not usual to show your allegiance publicly, but in this instance it may be necessary to say that I am not an ANC voter, as I prefer a strong opposition, but in many cases people fail to recognise the problems the ANC inherited from the previous government. A lot of today's ills are not of their own doing, yet they always get the blame for it...
 
Please also note!!

The other unit will only be able to generate power in two and a half week's time. The City of Cape Town has nevertheless appealed for responsible use of electricity by consumers.
Click to expand...
 
LancelotSA said:
I find it interesting, and appreciate, your recognition of the fact that a lot of the current issues are not of the current governments doing but the bad workmanship of the old "regime". Yes, the current government were warned about, and should have recognised, the problems that were to occur but by the same token the same can be said about the NP. It is not usual to show your allegiance publicly, but in this instance it may be necessary to say that I am not an ANC voter, as I prefer a strong opposition, but in many cases people fail to recognise the problems the ANC inherited from the previous government. A lot of today's ills are not of their own doing, yet they always get the blame for it...
Click to expand...
Yes. I am pretty sure some NP supporter made tons of money from Contracts from the Koeberg Development.
I know the property was acquired for R1 Million by the Government from some farmer indirectly through a middle man who made the Lion's Share in the deal.
I reckon in those days the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) was probably watered down and of a circumnavigational nature, hence Koeberg's existence today.

But in all earnest what else could Eskom do? In the long term a Nuclear Power Station was the answer for the Western Cape considering the fact that all the Coal had to come from up North and this would always pose a problem for the Western Cape from a Logistic and Cost point of view. Power Stations like Athlone had nowhere near enough generating capacity (2x140MW) to fulfil the needs of the growing metropole.

I think Eskom had foresight back then and we are lucky they built the Power Stations they did as now we would all be in trouble.
As far Politics goes, yes there was likely a lot of backhanding, but a lot could be contributed to Businesses and Contractors that got lucrative deals to build the Power Plants of yesteryear. The French had a lot to do with Koeberg.

Anyway, what we need to watch out for now is Government and people claiming to represent the people's interest stating that our best served needs would be to Privatise Eskom. The second thing to watch out for is a possible "tariff scaling" in future where the more you use the more you pay, like the way we are charged for water. I believe the status quo are using things like Electricity and Water as revenue streams which was not the original intended idea and here we need to watch the current Government on this one. They are pricing basic needs as if they are a business.
 
LancelotSA said:
I find it interesting, and appreciate, your recognition of the fact that a lot of the current issues are not of the current governments doing but the bad workmanship of the old "regime". Yes, the current government were warned about, and should have recognised, the problems that were to occur but by the same token the same can be said about the NP. It is not usual to show your allegiance publicly, but in this instance it may be necessary to say that I am not an ANC voter, as I prefer a strong opposition, but in many cases people fail to recognise the problems the ANC inherited from the previous government. A lot of today's ills are not of their own doing, yet they always get the blame for it...
Click to expand...

The 'old regime' was 14 years ago. In terms of assets, that represents the lifetime of many cars. I seriously doubt that many of the maintenance issues today are hangover's from that long ago.

It is my firm belief, that many of the maintenance issues faced in ESKOM today, are far more as a result of the policy put in place 10 years ago, which basically froze the promotion of white people. This caused underqualified people to be put into positions of responsibility, where they didn't understand basic concepts such as the importance of asset maintenance. To blame apartheid for ESKOM's current failures for me is at best clutching at straws.

Incidentally, I had the privilege of work shadowing at ESKOM in 1996. I was amazed at how proud the employees seemed to be of their company, and what a happy organisation it seemed to be. I very much doubt that the same could be said now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X