Unit 2 of Eskom’s Koeberg nuclear power station was shut down on Monday for a scheduled refuelling outage, after a record 492 days of uninterrupted run.
The refuelling outage will take about two months to complete, with Unit 2 expected back on line by May.
Unit 1 is currently operating optimally and is contributing 930 MW to the national grid.
Every 15 to 18 months, each of the two units at Koeberg is shut down for refuelling, inspection and maintenance. This routine maintenance is part of Eskom’s overall maintenance programme for its fleet of generation units. Outages are scheduled to avoid having both units out of service at the same time and to avoid the winter months in each year.
During these routine outages, one-third of the used nuclear fuel is replaced with new fuel. Maintenance, plant modifications, inspections and statutory work to ensure that international safety standards continue to be met and that reliable plant performance continues, are performed.