Rather than bore everyone with opinions like the obviously stupidly rejected “help” would not have been free, could have been requested by people like the plant manager (surely the political party would have brought this charitable offer of assistance to the attention of the powers that be during November 2022, at Eskom too?). Or point out that the type of possible assistance from the IAEA likely has more bearing on processes relevant to the licensing requirements from the NNR than the physical completion of the project and might have no bearing on the current project overrun. I will post some fluff on the steam generator replacement (the biggest reason for the current outage) :
Each steam generator is 22 metres in height with a diameter of 4.5 metres (top half) and 3.5 metres (bottom half) and weighs more than 320 tonnes. Each Koeberg unit has three steam generators.
Replacement follows this process (excludes things like containment facilities for the removed radioactive equipment needing to be constructed, asbestos removed from existing work sites etc.)
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Rigging each individual steam generator out from their position inside containment.
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Moving the steam generator from the installed position (vertical), out of containment (horizontal at an elevation of 20 metres) to placing them on a flatbed transporter (horizontal).
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Rigging the three new steam generators into their exact position inside the containment building.
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Performing the six critical welds (two for each steam generator) that joins the steam generators to the primary system piping.
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Performing radiography on the welds to ensure they meet the code requirements.
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Re-installing all the access platforms that enable people to work all the way up the steam generators (seven stories of permanent structures and temporary scaffolding).
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Reinstalling all the other piping connections (steam pipe at the top, feedwater pipe, and all the other smaller sampling and instrumentation connections) once access is available. In all cases meeting the required level of quality control.
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Installing new thermal insulation over the whole steam generator surface and all the pipes that were worked on (around 120 tonnes was removed).
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Removing all the temporary equipment that was required to be installed to allow the work to be done safely (scaffolding - 85 tons; lead shielding - 70 tonnes; electrical supplies - 22 distribution boards and 1 km of cabling.
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After this it will be necessary to complete the maintenance activities scheduled for the outage, commission all the systems, refuel the reactor, and return the unit to service.
At least at 9 May the bulk of the “heavy lifting” seems to have been completed:
