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By Robin-Lee Francke 
12h ago
Cape Town – On Wednesday, Eskom celebrated the arrival of its long-awaited replacement steam generators at its Koeberg nuclear power plant in the Western Cape.
In a statement issued by the power company, it said its six new steam generators arrived at its power plant on Tuesday.
Eskom said this was the culmination of “exceptional teamwork and collaboration and a milestone for Africa’s only nuclear power plant.”
Each steam generator weighs approximately 380 tons and spans about 20 m.
The first three generators will be installed between February and June 2021.
The generators are transported over a distance of approximately 40 km by road from the port of Cape Town, which takes eight hours per generator.
The trailer used to transport the generators is the longest in South Africa. At 42 m long, it requires four trucks during each trip.
A replacement steam generator facility has been constructed to house the steam generators until the old generators are removed during the next plant outage.
The replacement was scheduled in Koeberg’s outage plan and the power utility’s generation plan.
The generators, which were approved in 2010 by Eskom’s board of directors, will extend the useful life of the plant by 20 years. Steam generators will replace those installed in the national electricity grid in 1984.
“The replacement of the steam generator is a key part of the broader program to extend Koeberg’s operational life, which was budgeted to cost approximately R20 billion (about US $ 1.2 billion), and will be the best investment in power generation. sustainable and less carbon intensive electricity. infrastructure that Eskom can buy, ”said the energy company.
Extensive engineering analyzes and safety studies on the project concluded that the new generators could be installed, commissioned and operated safely, allowing the power plant to continue generating electricity beyond its 40-year operational life.
According to Eskom, the replacement of a steam generator is the most intensive and expensive project that a nuclear power plant can undergo.
The old generators, which will be removed from the power plant, will be packaged, dismantled and disposed of in a national nuclear waste repository.
African News Agency
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