Photo by Gallo Images / Nardus Engelbrecht
Photo by Gallo Images / Nardus Engelbrecht
Eskom COO Jan Oberholzer dropped a bombshell on us all this week, when he noted an ‘alarming’ trend that is setting back one of the firm’s biggest nuclear operations. The Koeberg plant, located just 30km outside of Cape Town, is losing skilled workers at a rapid rate, sparking panic at the national utility.
Skilled workers vanishing from Eskom nuclear plants
According to Oberholzer, highly-educated technicians are quitting their roles at Koeberg without any other offers lined up, because they know they can find the same work for better pay overseas. It brings into sharp focus how the lure of emigration for some skilled workers is pushing South Africa towards an employment ‘brain drain’.
With technicians ditching Eskom and its nuclear operations, many have asked this week how Koeberg can possibly survive. But, as we learned during the State of the System Address, long-term plans remain in place at the facility.
How long will Koeberg operate for?
It was confirmed earlier this week that a Long-Term Operation plan has Koeberg operating for another 20 to 24 years, taking the plant’s life right up to 2045. Eskom is hopeful the Nuclear Regulator will accept their application.
“The Koeberg Long-Term Operation (LTO) activities enable the plant to operate for another 20 years beyond 2024/25, continuing as per schedule. The formal application to extend the operating license has been submitted to the National Nuclear Regulator, and accepted for further processing.”
Eskom statement
Koeberg, skilled workers, and the future
What is more, plenty of work is being carried out at Koeberg over the next 12 months, to ensure it can live to fight another day – and the two decades that follow. Yes, a skilled worker shortage is causing issues at some Eskom plants, but the firm won’t be pulling the plug on any of their troublesome facilities just yet.
- Unit 1 was offline for five weeks this year, due to a fault in the primary pump breaker.
- Unit 2 has remained online since its last refueling outage, almost 350 days ago.
- The plant is still receiving upgrades, and a new reactor pressure vessel head was installed earlier this month.
- Three new steam generators are set to be delivered in January 2022.
- All of them should all be online and installed by next September, despite the skilled worker shortage.
Recent noteworthy items related to Koeberg:#EskomSoS2021 pic.twitter.com/KoVi8wHYKY
— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) October 25, 2021
