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By IOL Reporter 
5h ago
Cape Town – Safety concerns are mounting over the Koeberg nuclear power plant after Cape Town was hit by a third earthquake in less than two months early Tuesday.
According to the Southern African Faith Communities Environment Institute (Safcei) and the Koeberg Alert Alliance, increased seismic activity at the Milnerton fault should be a major cause for alarm around risks to the nuclear plant. , especially since the news that Eskom has plans to extend the plant’s useful life another 20 years after its original useful life.
The third earthquake struck with greater intensity on Tuesday, measuring a magnitude of 3.5, compared to the 2.3 and 2.5 magnitude earthquakes experienced in late September.
Peter Becker of the Koeberg Alert Alliance said in a statement: “Last month, we expressed our concerns when Eskom ignored the first two earthquakes as a cause for alarm.
He felt #earthquake (#earthquake) M3.5 hits 76 km NW of Cape Town (South Africa) 16 minutes ago. Report to: https://t.co/50yLsUoGVr pic.twitter.com/0q3MsXjGg1
– EMSC (@LastQuake) November 16, 2020
“But now, with a third and more intense earthquake, South Africans must be aware of the risks associated with an aging nuclear plant so close to a fault zone and densely populated areas.”
Koeberg contributes so little to the electricity generated in South Africa that it is not worth the risk of keeping it running, the organizations say, believing that keeping it running for 20 years beyond its intended useful life would be playing “Russian roulette.”
Becker says the Geosciences Council issued a tender in October for a study of seismic hazards at the Koeberg site.
Koeberg nuclear power plant continues to operate safely after seismic activity pic.twitter.com/cimrIeUCLv
– Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) November 17, 2020
“It appears that we are not alone in our concerns about how safe Koeberg is from earthquakes,” says Becker. “Clearly, the Geosciences Council also sees the need for more research on this risk.”
Koeberg was built in the late 1970s with a useful life of 40 years. It began operations in 1984 and is scheduled to close in July 2024.
” It was the first nuclear plant built with earthquake protection on the foundations in the form of a concrete ‘raft’ supported on neoprene rubber pads. Later designs included fail-safe horizontal dampers, but this was not made for Koeberg.
” That means if the rubber pads do not work as expected, or if there is an unexpectedly powerful earthquake, it could result in the base breaking. One question Eskom plans to extend the life of Koeberg is whether the neoprene pads will last another 20 years in a marine environment.
“The Koeberg Alert Alliance was denied access to a 2017 study, which assessed the seismic risk at the Koeberg site, by the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR).”
Becker says: “If this study was reassuring, why did the regulator and Eskom choose to keep it secret? We were also not allowed to observe Koeberg’s emergency preparedness exercise last month, which tests the effectiveness of the emergency plan.
Not even virtually. There is a worrying trend by Eskom and the regulator to withhold information from the public
“We know that an unexpected earthquake can cause a nuclear reactor to collapse. Why should Capetonians live in fear of that happening?
Safcei CEO Francesca de Gasparis said: ” The important questions for people who live near the plant should be: can we trust Eskom to put people first in decision-making about Koeberg?
“Has Eskom considered what will happen if we are hit by a massive earthquake on this existing earthquake fault, so close to our only nuclear power plant?”
“We know from the Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear disasters that citizens were told not to worry, and that the government and the nuclear plants had everything under control. Yet these are two of the greatest nuclear catastrophes of our time.
” Are we willing to take that risk with Koeberg when information that should be in the public domain is kept hidden?
” Firstly, the plant is old and secondly, we have no information about its current state. What if the next earthquake is even more powerful, which some scientists say is more than likely?
“In the worst case scenario, Koeberg’s evacuation plan would have to be implemented and tens of thousands of people, possibly millions of people, would have to be evacuated. And since radioactive contamination can make an area uninhabitable for hundreds of years, where would all these people find housing? Or schools for your children?
” Will there be enough services or jobs there to serve these new inhabitants? These are important questions that must be addressed openly, with sufficient reliable evidence available for public scrutiny. “
MESS
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