South African electricity utility Eskom confirmed on Tuesday that it initiated a controlled shutdown of unit two of the Koeberg power station near Cape Town following a technical fault on the electricity generating side of the unit.
The shutdown occurred at 7pm on Monday night.
“The nuclear reactor side of the unit has not been affected and will be kept in a safe and stable condition in line with the operating procedures of the station,” Eskom said in a statement.
The technical fault necessitated unplanned maintenance work to be conducted starting on Monday evening.
Due to stringent safety requirements, the shutting-down procedure, repairs and restarting procedure will take about three weeks to complete, Eskom added.
The shutdown of one of the two units of Koeberg will increase the vulnerability of the power system, particularly in the Western Cape.
Eskom said it will do all it can to mitigate the increased vulnerability during this period. This includes increasing the use of the two new open-cycle gas turbine stations in the Cape.
Eskom appealed to the public to conserve electricity during this period.
“A concerted effort to decrease the consumption of electricity by all South Africans will reduce the risk of load shedding,” it said. — I-Net Bridge