Over the past few days, many residents close to Koeberg Power Station might have noticed steam occasionally rising from the power stations.
For the workers at Koeberg, this is good news as it indicates the outage for Unit 1 is almost over.
However, energy experts say this might not indicate good news for the country as the return of Koeberg’s Unit 1 to commercial service has been delayed by another ten days as some critical tests are still to be completed before the reactor is started.
According to a statement by Eskom, the steam generators on Unit 1 have been successfully replaced and the unit is expected to be synchronised to the grid by the end of October. Thereafter, the unit will start supplying electricity to the national grid.
Te output will be ramped up to full power over a period of two weeks, while commissioning tests are performed.
Life extension
The last date that Eskom provided for the return of Unit 1 from the extension of life project was 3 November. It is now expected to return on around 13 November. Unit 2 will then be taken offline to replace its steam generators.
The extension project will give Koeberg a 20-year life extension provided its license is approved, which expires in July 2024.
“The three steam generators on Unit 2 are scheduled for replacement in the upcoming Unit 2 outage, which will start once the Unit 1 commissioning is complete.
“Although this outage start date has been shifted to mid-November 2023, the Koeberg team together with the main contractor and their sub-contractors are using the experience gained from the installation on Unit 1 to reduce the outage period required to replace the steam generators on Unit 2,” Eskom says in the statement.
Although it experienced some delays, the process of returning Unit 1 to service is intentionally thorough, as it is essential to ensure all the safety systems are functioning correctly and that the unit is ready to operate reliably for the duration of the upcoming cycle, Eskom promises.
“Currently, the water in the reactor circuit, which includes the three steam generators, has been increased to its operating pressure and temperature (155 bar and 300 °C).
“The process required numerous tests of the safety systems, with more tests still to be performed before and after the start-up of the nuclear reaction. The completion of the commissioning tests will end a long but safe steam generator replacement journey and signal the return of Unit 1 to commercial operation,” the statement reads.
Steam generators replacement
The replacement of the steam generators was identified in the licence application for the long-term operation of Koeberg submitted to the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) as a prerequisite for the station to operate safely beyond its original licenced operating period of 40 years (beyond 2024).
“The completion of this long and challenging outage on Unit 1 through the commitment, sacrifice and hard work of all the Eskom employees, contractors, partners, and suppliers is a huge milestone in the process of extending the life of Koeberg
“Hopefully, should the NNR award the licences to Koeberg to operate beyond 2024, the station will continue to operate safely and reliably for another 20 years.
