Eskom making progress with steam generator replacement at Koeberg nuclear plant

Eskom says it has achieved a major milestone towards the completion of the steam generator replacements on Koeberg power station’s unit 1.

Unit 1 of the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station, near Cape Town, was switched off on 10 December 2022, for a planned refuelling and routine maintenance.

Koeberg power station

According to Eskom, the first steam generator was removed from the containment building and placed in the storage building that was erected to house the steam generators.

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“This is a significant accomplishment for the Koeberg team, the contractor and the numerous local and international subcontractors involved in the project.

“It is a great relief to have reached this milestone as the steam generator replacement project has experienced numerous false starts in previous outages and some unexpected challenges during the execution of the current outage to get to this point in the project,” the power utility said in a statement.

Moving the steam generators

Eskom said the logistics of moving the steam generators from their installed position out of containment to placing them on a flatbed transporter was a complex process that involves the size and weight of each steam generator.

“Each of them is 22m tall (that’s a six-story building), with a diameter of 4.5m (top half) and 3.5m (bottom half) and they each weigh over 320 Tons (a Boeing 747 only weighs between 150 and 220 tons depending on its configuration).”

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Going forward, the power utility said it would take out the other two steam generators that are ready for lifting and install the three new steam generators.

The process involves, among others, rigging the remaining two steam generators out from their positions inside containment.

“After which we still need to complete the maintenance activities scheduled for the outage, commission all the systems, refuel the reactor, and return the unit to service.”

Delays

Due to the delays that have already been experienced, Eskom said the original return to service date for the unit was no longer achievable.

“Although every effort is being made to reduce the impact, we are currently running a few weeks late. The generation production plan is being optimised to minimise as far as possible the impact of the projected delay on the system.

“Unit 2, which continues to operate safely while Unit 1 is in this extended outage, will undergo a similar long outage to replace its three steam generators starting in the later part of this year.”

In accordance with the safety analysis that was performed and submitted to the National Nuclear Regulator in support of the application to extend the plant life by 20 years, Eskom said the steam generators are the last large component replacements that are needed to ensure Koeberg can operate safely for the requested additional period of operation.

“Thus, Eskom sees this milestone as an important step on the path to safely extending the life of Koeberg.”

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