Eskom: Koeberg repairs won't affect nation

Weekend Argus - SA

The Koeberg nuclear power station's two generation units will be shut down for nearly two weeks each in order to repair cooling water pipes and avoid major blackouts during the World Cup, a spokesman for Eskom has confirmed.

This was in response to a report in the Weekend Argus yesterday.

The shut-down was "just a precautionary measure to mitigate a possible risk on one of (Koeberg's) water-cooling systems", said spokesman Tony Stott.

The news that the units had to be shut down has raised fears that parts of the country could again be left without electricity at certain times, similar to the load-shedding power cuts which started in 2007 and went on through 2008.

During the load-shedding blackouts in 2007, businesses across South Africa lost millions of rands in a matter of weeks and criminals used the blackouts as an opportunity to strike.

But Stott insisted that there would be no power failures.

"We want to keep the risk during the World Cup as low as possible," Stott said.

It was reported yesterday that Eskom had made an assessment of all the potential risks at all its power stations before the World Cup.

A schedule of short-duration shutdowns was implemented to undertake maintenance at stations where problems were identified.

Stott said there was corrosion in one of the cooling systems at Koeberg.

The system, where the fault was found, cooled components and structures within the reactor buildings.

"Some of the rubber linings in the pipes came loose and because we use sea water, it causes corrosion on the steel piping," he said.

Stott said it was a long-term risk.

Each of the two Koeberg units would be shut down for between seven and 14 days respectively, at different times during March and April.

Stott said the shut-downs would not cause power outages in the Western Cape or affect the rest of the country.

"We are slotting in and scheduling the maintenance work on the power stations so that we have enough capacity to meet the demand," he said.

"It does increase the risk of power outages if something else goes wrong and another power station has to shut down completely."

The shut-downs come in the wake of revelations that Eskom spent R44 million on various sponsorships, despite being cash-strapped and dependant on a huge foreign loan, as well as stiffly increased local rates, to make ends meet.

But the Eskom has defended itself, saying the sponsors were "strategic business imperatives".