Safety incidents at Koeberg ‘contained’, nuclear plans remain

South Africa is sticking with a plan to add more nuclear power to the grid after several minor incidents tested safety procedures at its four-decade old atomic station.

Koeberg Nuclear Power Station, located around 30km north of Cape Town on the Atlantic coast, experienced several incidents earlier this month and late in June that resulted in the detection of elevated airborne radioactive contamination.

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The events were fully contained, resulted in no release into the environment and there has been no risk to the public, said Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa.

Workers encountered low levels of contamination amounting to less than a fraction of annual limits, according to Velaphi Ntuli, Eskom’s chief nuclear officer.

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“The exposure at Koeberg is an exposure we encounter in our daily lives,” Ramokgopa told a press conference on Sunday to assure South Africans that they are safe.

“We are proceeding with the nuclear build programme, and we’re looking forward to another 20 years of power from the two Koeberg nuclear units.”

South Africa plans to add 5 200MW of nuclear power generation by around 2040, according to the nation’s energy blueprint known as the Integrated Resource Plan.

Both units at the 42-year-old Koeberg power station have also been green-lit to operate for another two decades.

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Africa’s largest economy has for more than a year ended the scheduled power outages – known locally as load shedding – that plagued it on an almost daily basis for years.

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But it is eager to diversify its power sources from a fleet of coal-fired plants, many of which are nearing scheduled decommissioning, that contribute to the nation’s carbon footprint.

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