Liewe magtag … reading BETWEEN THE LINES … who said what, not interpreting any 2nd hand-reported opinions, this is not good.
Bets on the chances of Koeberg becoming the next Kusili, Medupe … a bottomless money pit … a pristine white elephant?
Liewe magtag … reading BETWEEN THE LINES … who said what, not interpreting any 2nd hand-reported opinions, this is not good.
Bets on the chances of Koeberg becoming the next Kusili, Medupe … a bottomless money pit … a pristine white elephant?
Hitachi Africa is not involved. At least we have that going for us.
Now likely France or Rosatom ![]()
AtoomGroetnis
The reactors at Koeberg was made by Framatome, so we know that if work is done on the reactor, it’s from there. Can’t be any other way. Similarly with the fuel rods, as I understand it, you buy your fuel from the guy who made your reactor.
Engineering news seems to indicate that while the steam generators are built in China, it is by Framatome.
Wasn’t without mishaps…
Koeberg gets half of its fuel from France and half from Westinghouse. Westinghouse in the US sends fuel components to its plant in Sweden, where it is fabricated into final fuel, and then shipped to Cape Town.
The thing is, USA is having some doubts to supply Keoberg due to some issues with Putin and “visitation rights” and whatnot.
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.)
Rigging each individual steam generator out from their position inside containment.
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).
Rigging the three new steam generators into their exact position inside the containment building.
Performing the six critical welds (two for each steam generator) that joins the steam generators to the primary system piping.
Performing radiography on the welds to ensure they meet the code requirements.
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).
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.
Installing new thermal insulation over the whole steam generator surface and all the pipes that were worked on (around 120 tonnes was removed).
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.
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:
Yup, that was my thought as well, though of course I didn’t dig as deep as you did. Many of us have been there. Especially when you are in software. The project is late, but the heavy lifting is done. The spec is written. Half is implemented. Then someone from management shows up, and gets in a contractor to “help”. Now you spend half your time getting the %*&$ contractor up to speed, so that he can tell you how things should be done (the process), while you’re already at a point that any new recommendations is only going to make the project later.
The bringing in of the contractor/advisor, even if well intentioned, is already a bit of an insult. It implies you are incompetent.
So, sitting here thinking of Koeberg upgrades, 20 years extension, I pondered on this …
The Koeberg nuclear power station is built on a seismic raft designed to withstand a magnitude 7 earthquake at a focal distance of about 10km
So what …
Going way back to like 2016 … I emailed the USGS asking them if the poles melt, billions of tons of weight lifted there, would the earth’s crust be affected? More earthquakes? They said nope.
Then this came out:
Even NASA is “interested”, the USGS is a Gov department too, yeah, ok.
https://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/environment/glacier_quakes.html
So, as more ice melts, more possible earthquakes as the crust resettles with a faultline on the West Coast of SA … Fukushima.
Yeah, maybe we must keep focussing on Eskom.
Beware the Rabbit Hole, TTT ![]()
Or maybe it is a gaping rabbit hole … that no one wants to even glance at. ![]()
I read a lot of disaster novels … man, the only difference between actual Covid, the whole shebang, form the Pressi’s, Dr’s, Fauci, Media, Social Media, and masks … the ONLY difference between the novels and real life, in the novels +80% died … rest was near dead spot on.
The research some of the authors do, to craft their tales, sometimes it is based on science.
I can just read the Koeberg Novell … It happen at 12:08 on Aug 10, 2024 when the last mil tons flowed into the ocean, the tectonic plate over the south pole lifted by 1m.
The resultant tsunami that eviscerated the southern continents, hit them by 6am the following morning with no warning.
The Koeberg nuclear reactor came online 12h before, the nuclear material was left behind by the tsunami pulling back, in the center of Johannesburg …
![]()
Ok, 'nough of that. Think I must leave it to the authors.
18 posts were split to a new topic: Covid19 and other conspiracies (respectful discussion)
People, Eskom, as we have debated, chatted, for and against, common sense and speculation, experience and big picture views, assumptions, Eskom, SA, is in big trouble under the current regime.
A regime that has the right to have its opinions.
And the more Munic’s fail, the more worrisome it is for Cpt’s efforts to shave off LS levels.
The reality of the situation is that Eskom continues to operate on these thin margins, and energy experts have warned that higher stages of load shedding are again likely if this delicate balancing act isn’t successful.
If another cold snap hits the country – as is forecast for this week – demand will likely shoot up again, forcing Eskom to use up its reserves, burn more diesel, and eventually escalate load shedding to counter these effects.
…
Exiting winter, though, will see the regular maintenance schedules return, with more units being taken offline. If Eskom has not boosted its generation or added more capacity to the grid by then, load shedding will continue.
I feel sorry for any new member trying to read this thread. This post is reply 2651! It’s too late to split ![]()
It is a record of how bad it got, Eskom that is. ![]()
8 units all at the same time…
UCLFGroetnis
Take aways from article…
Do not be a messenger of bad news
Seems overlap with both units off at same time, is a given.
After refurbishment both units need to be off for 200 days for other maintenace.
Koeberg ain’t the steadfast unit in the Eskom fleet anymore
Imagine my surprise.