Unit 1 at the Koeberg nuclear power station has been taken offline as a result of an increasing leak rate, Eskom said.
In a statement on Monday, the utility said the unit had been taken offline when on Sunday afternoon “an increasing leak rate was observed on one of three steam generators in Unit 1”. This was confirmed by other plant measurement readings.
“Although the leak rate was well within the safety limits, a conservative decision was made to take Koeberg Unit 1 offline for repairs,” Eskom said. “During this period the unit will also undergo its routine maintenance and refuelling, which was originally scheduled to start during February.”
The unit is now expected to return to service during May 2021.
The leak and subsequent shutting down of Unit 1 comes less than a week after Eskom reinstated load-shedding on December 29 in a bid to conserve diesel and other emergency power reserves ahead of an anticipated resurgence in electricity demand in January.
Located in the Western Cape, the Koeberg nuclear power station came into commercial operation in 1984 and consists of two power generation units each with a capacity of 970MW. Unit 2 continued to safely operate and generate at full power, Eskom said.
Late on Monday morning, Eskom said shutting down the Koeberg plant would take several hours and the process is still under way. “Once shut down, fuel will be unloaded from the reactor core to enable maintenance activities to be conducted, and the cause of the increased leak rate to be addressed. There is no risk to plant, personnel or the environment,” the utility said.
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