Global civil nuclear body the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA's) peer review mission of the Safety Aspects of the Long-Term Operation (SALTO) at the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station indicated that Koeberg has made significant improvements and has closed gaps identified during the pre-SALTO missions, said State-owned power utility Eskom chief nuclear officer Riedewaan Bakardien.

The IAEA has previously completed two pre-SALTO missions, which prepared the station for the work needed to safely extend Koeberg’s operating life.

The IAEA team of nuclear professionals from eight countries reviewed the safety aspects of Koeberg’s long-term operation (LTO) to extend the life of the power station by 20 years, including preparedness, organisation and programmes for safe operation, Eskom said.

The nuclear body’s team also provided recommendations and suggestions to further enhance the preparations for LTO safety, including that Eskom should comprehensively review and implement all plant programmes relevant for LTO.

The IAEA team also recommended that Eskom complete the revalidation of qualification of cables in the containment for the LTO period and ensure full functionality of the containment structure monitoring system.

“We note there are some recommendations and suggestions for further work to be done, and we are treating all of them as urgent to assure Koeberg will be successful on this journey to extend the plant life by 20 years,” said Bakardien.

Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) Nuclear Safety and Technology chief director Katse Maphoto emphasised the strategic importance of the Koeberg LTO from a national energy security and grid balance point of view.

“The government remains optimistic that the LTO project will benefit a lot from this IAEA mission recommendations for the power station to achieve the highest level of safety that is on par with the best practices globally,” he said.

“Eskom has incorporated some IAEA standards and guides into its policies and procedures, with a robust framework having been put in place for the life extension,” added Bakardien.

“There has been significant progress on the LTO, and today we are well set on the path to extending Koeberg’s life. We commit that we will attend to the recommendations and suggestions that came out of this IAEA mission,” he stated.

The IAEA visit to Koeberg, at the invitation of the DMRE, was part of Eskom’s preparations for the safe extension of Koeberg’s operating life.

To execute the LTO safely, Eskom has performed benchmarking exercises with other utilities around the world and requested the assistance of international nuclear safety review bodies, including the World Association of Nuclear Operators, the Institute for Nuclear Plant Operators and the IAEA.

“We observed that, despite many challenges, the plant has made progress in ageing management activities and preparation for safe LTO since the first Pre-SALTO mission in 2015,” said IAEA senior nuclear safety officer and team leader Gabor Petofi.

“The SALTO team encourages Eskom and the plant management to address findings made by the SALTO team and to implement all remaining activities for safe LTO.”

Koeberg is not the first power station to embark on a journey for LTO and the IAEA mission to Koeberg was the IAEA’s fiftieth peer review mission.

Additionally, the ten-person team, comprising nuclear experts from Argentina, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Pakistan, Spain, Sweden and two IAEA staff members, were impressed with the attitude and professionalism of Koeberg staff.

“We observed that staff at the plant is professional, open and receptive to suggestions for improvement. Despite challenges, the plant has eliminated several deviations in ageing management activities and preparation for safe LTO since the pre-SALTO mission in 2019,” said Petofi.

“The SALTO team encourages Eskom and the plant management to address findings made by the SALTO team and to implement all remaining activities for safe LTO,” he said.

The IAEA team identified Koeberg good practices and learning points that will be shared with the nuclear industry globally, including integrated corrective action programme to extensively consider operating experience for LTO.

The IAEA team also identified as a good practice by Koeberg’s staff the use of a template to collect vital importance parameters from the original-equipment manufacturers to establish the extended qualified life of electrical components. The team also considers the so-called capability index, applied to characterise health, attitude and other enablers of staff members to qualify if they are fit to perform a task, as a good practice.