South Africa's National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) has granted state-owned utility Eskom a licence to continue operating unit 1 of the Koeberg nuclear power plant for another 20 years until 21 July 2044.

Koeberg (Image: Eskom)

Koeberg, with a combined capacity of 1860 MWe, is the only operating nuclear power plant on the African content and produces about 5% of South Africa's electricity. Unit 1 entered commercial operation in 1984 and unit 2 in 1985, and the units are currently licensed to operate until 24 July 2024 and 9 November 2025, respectively. Eskom submitted its application to extend the operating lives of the two pressurised water reactors by an additional 20 years beyond their initial 40-year operating lives to the NNR in May 2021.

Eskom noted that it has operated the Koeberg plant safely for 40 years and has invested in safety improvements and extensive maintenance to ensure that it continues to operate safely into the future.

In November last year, unit 1 was synchronised to the South African electricity grid after nearly a year offline for the replacement of its three original steam generators, a prerequisite for the long-term operation of the plant.

"As the Koeberg licence will be changed to reflect an end date of 21 July 2044 for unit 1, Eskom will continue to operate the unit until January 2025, when the unit will be shut down for its next scheduled refuelling and maintenance outage," the company said.

"Together with our business partners, we are proud of the achievement that ensures that Africa's first and only nuclear power plant can now continue to operate safely into the future," said Eskom Group Executive for Generation Bheki Nxumalo.

"The granting of the licence is a testament to the hard work and continued commitment of our teams to nuclear safety and Eskom's generation recovery plan," said Eskom Chief Nuclear Officer Keith Featherstone. "Over the years, Koeberg has identified and implemented safety improvements through both French and US nuclear experiences, which have reduced the risk to levels that would normally only be achieved by new, modern nuclear power plants."

Eskom is implementing some of the pre-requisites for the long-term operation of unit 2 during its current outage.

"Once the current outage is complete, unit 2 will be returned to service, and the NNR has stated that the decision regarding the long-term operation for unit 2 will only be made at a later date, but prior to 9 November 2025," the company said.

In March 2022, the long-term operation (LTO) plan for the plant was examined by the International Atomic Energy Agency's Safety Aspects of Long Term Operation (SALTO) review mission, which took place at the request of South Africa's Department of Mineral Resources and Energy and reviewed the plant's preparedness, organisation and programmes for safe LTO.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News