Koeberg Nuclear Power Plant. File picture: Henk Kruger/African News Agency (ANA)
CAPE TOWN - A report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has found multiple challenges with the Koeberg Nuclear Power Plant life extension project, including that the containment structure monitoring system is not fully functional.
The IAEA team of nuclear professionals from eight countries conducted a Safety Aspects of Long Term Operation (Salto) mission at the plant in March to review the status of activities related to long-term operation (LTO) assessment of the plant against IAEA Safety Standards and international best practices.
The team identified 15 issues resulting in either a recommendation or suggestion for improvement, which included that the management of the LTO programme was not effective to timeously complete all actions to prepare for long-term operation and the safety analysis report (SAR) has not been adequately updated for LTO and ageing management.
Other issues include that the plant programmes are not comprehensively reviewed and implemented for long-term operation, information used for ageing management review of mechanical structures, systems and components (SSCs) is not consistently managed and documented, and that the plant has not completely implemented a comprehensive cable ageing management programme.
“The IAEA team observed that despite many challenges, the plant has addressed the most important deviations in ageing management activities and preparation for safe LTO since the Pre-Salto mission in 2019.
However, many activities are still in progress to achieve full compliance with IAEA Safety Standards. The Salto team encouraged the plant management to facilitate implementation of all remaining activities for safe LTO,” the report reads.
“The plant management expressed a determination to address the areas identified for improvement and indicated their intention to initiate the invitation of a ‘Salto Peer Review Follow-up Mission to Koeberg Nuclear Power Plant’ to be conducted in 2024.”
Eskom said it has incorporated some IAEA standards and guides into its policies and procedures, with a robust framework having been put in place for the life extension.
Chief director at nuclear safety and technology for the Department of Minerals and Energy, Katse Maphoto, emphasised the strategic importance of Koeberg LTO from a national energy security and grid balance point of view.
“The government remains optimistic that the LTO project will benefit a lot from this IAEA mission recommendations for the power station to achieve the highest level of safety that is on par with the best practices globally,” said Maphoto.
But the DA said that despite assurances from Eskom and ministers in the energy cluster that Koeberg’s life extension project was on track, the report by the IAEA’s review mission to Koeberg revealed a life extension project that was in crisis.
DA spokesperson on mineral resources and energy Kevin Mileham said: “The findings made by the IAEA are consistent with the operational challenges that have affected the Koeberg Nuclear Power Plant since the conclusion of the IAEA mission.
“Should the South African government heed the DA’s call for IAEA expertise, the contingent of IAEA expert’s terms of reference will be to work alongside Koeberg engineers on bringing the life extension project back on track and ensuring its successful implementation.“
Peter Becker of Koeberg Alert Alliance said Eskom refused to reveal what the estimated cost was of the project at this point.
“The only thing Eskom will say is that the cost will be ‘significantly different’ to the R20 billion previously claimed,” he said.