Koeberg Unit 1 goes offline again

Koeberg Unit 1 has tripped and has been offline since Monday, Eskom confirmed on Wednesday.

“The Koeberg Unit 1 Reactor tripped at 16:30 on Monday 30 August 2021, due to a fault on the electrical breaker to one of the primary coolant pumps,” Eskom Spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said.

“Eskom can confirm that the reactor was then safely shut down by the operators, in compliance with the operating procedure.

“Initial fault-finding ruled out any concerns on the primary pump or the motor itself. There are no nuclear safety concerns.

“By mid-morning yesterday, the cause of the trip had been confirmed to be a faulty electrical protection relay, which tripped the primary motor. The secondary side was already fully conditioned and on standby, waiting for the reactor and the primary system to returned to service.”

He said that once an assessment of the protection relay is complete, together with the analysis of the trip, will the unit be returned to service although no timeline was given as how long this would take.

Eskom said that it has made the National Nuclear Regulator aware of the situation, the findings and the actions being taken.

Organistion Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) has lambasted the latest breakdown at the unit and said repairing the unit was a total waste of money from taxpayers.

“This is the same unit that was offline from January to at least June. Stop wasting money to extend Koeberg’s lifespan and invest more in renewables. Affordable and can add to grid in 2 years,” the organisation said on Wednesday.

“Stop wasting money to extend Koeberg’s lifespan and invest more in renewables. Affordable + can add to grid in 2 years.”

In Januray the Unit 1 was taken off-line for repairs, routine maintenance and refuelling.