By Enyichukwu Enemanna
South Africa’s nuclear regulator has announced the approval of an operational license, allowing one of the country’s two units Koeberg nuclear power plant to operate for another 20 years.
This approval was secured after lengthy deliberations, the regulator announced on Monday.
The 40-year operating licence of Unit 1 of the plant outside Cape Town was due to expire this month.
The state-owned power utility Eskom had in 2021 applied for a 20-year extension as part of efforts to end crippling power shortages in the southern African country.
Some environmental activists opposed the application during public hearing, citing safety concerns, which were also raised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) during an inspection two years ago.
IAEA had then raised issues of corrosion and cracks to containment buildings accommodating the reactors, and dysfunctional monitoring systems.
Eskom had allayed fears, saying it would address these issues.
South Africa’s National Nuclear Regulator granted the extension of Koeberg Unit 1’s licence subject to “safety improvements identified as part of the third periodic safety review,” its Chief Executive Ditebogo Kgomo said.
The regulator is still assessing Eskom’s application to extend the life of Koeberg Unit 2 by 20 years, but that unit’s licence is valid until November 2025.
The regulator found that health, safety and environmental concerns raised during public consultations were adequately addressed by the licence conditions and Eskom’s safety case, Kgomo said.
Heritage Times HT reports that the Koeberg plant near Cape Town is the only operational nuclear power station on the African continent.
Last week, the military government in Mali and state-owned Russia’s nuclear company, Rosatom reached three cooperation deals and discussed projects which included the establishment of a Russian-designed low-power nuclear power plant.
Rosatom did not however give details about the proposed low-power nuclear power plant it is seeking to build in Mali.
