Good news for Koeberg power station

Eskom has announced that the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) granted one of Koeberg’s generation units an operating licence for the next 20 years.

Koeberg Unit 1, which provides 930MW to South Africa’s grid, will remain active until 21 July 2044.

Eskom says that due to this extension, it will continue using the unit until January 2025, when it is scheduled to be refuelled and undergo a maintenance outage.

“Over the years, Koeberg has identified and implemented safety improvements through both French and US nuclear experiences, which have reduced the risk to levels that would normally only be achieved by new, modern nuclear power plants,” said Eskom chief nuclear officer Keith Featherstone.

Koeberg Unit 2’s operating licence only expires on 9 November 2025; however, it is currently out of use due to the implementation of “pre-requisites for Long Term Operation,” according to Eskom.

The state-owned power company noted that Unit 2 will soon return to service, and the NNR will reveal its decision regarding its long-term operation at a later stage.

Eskom notes that due to the operation extension, Koeberg will join 120 reactors worldwide that will continue generation past its initial 40-year life.

“Together with our business partners, we are proud of the achievement that ensures that Africa’s first and only nuclear power plant can now continue to operate safely into the future,” said Eskom Group Executive for Generation, Bheki Nxumalo.

Koeberg has been plagued with delays leading up to this point caused by costly blunders by Eskom and French contractor Framatome.

Unit 2 was switched off on 18 January 2022 and was supposed to reopen in June 2022. Unit 1 would then go through the same process, starting in October.

Koeberg’s Unit 1 eventually went offline on 10 December 2022, with Featherstone saying that it needed to undergo the replacement of its steam generators.

It was initially scheduled to come back online in July 2023, but the date was revised to September of that year.

Its return was further delayed when Featherstone announced it would return online in November 2023.

These delays resulted in Eskom being slapped with a R950 million fine.

The penalty was awarded to French nuclear reactor company Framatome, which was contracted to manufacture and replace the six steam generators at the nuclear power station.