17 December 2010
A unit of the Koeberg nuclear power reactor will be closed for a month to replace the defective fuel rods. Even if a second reactor runs at full power during the closure, Eskom is calling on South Africans to use electricity wisely.
Stop at the station in Cape Town, starting Sunday, just after higher than normal levels of radioactivity were reported in the Koeberg unit 1 primary coolant circuit.
This was the result of one or several defective fuel rods in the reactor, Eskom said.
"Eskom has decided to stop unit 1 for short-duration failure to find and replace defective fuel rods", said the utility power belonging to the State. "Short outage lasts about a month."
Staff working at the plant as well as the public should not be alarmed that there is no risk of security arising from these higher levels of normal radioactivity, Eskom says.
Higher levels of radioactivity are primary cooling of the reactor's containment building circuit. Water in the primary circuit is isolated environment by primary pipe itself and the construction of containment.
"Political Eskom is that we do not load fuel with known reactor defects." For each refueling crashes, all elements of fuel which are intended to be loaded into the reactor are reviewed and confirmed in acoustics and in good condition.
In the summer months and especially holiday, electricity demand is low compared to the other months, making it the ideal time for utility planning maintenance of its stations.
"Koeberg unit 2 will operate at full power during this period." Nevertheless, Eskom non-energy call to all consumers conserve electricity and waste. »
Source: BuaNews
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