SAFCEI lodges appeal against Koeberg’s lifetime extension

The Southern African Faith Communities' Environment Institute (SAFCEI) made a formal legal appeal to the minister of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy regarding the granting of a 20-year licence for Koeberg’s Unit 1. SAFCEI’s legal opinion in the appeal that was sent on 27 January of this year, is that the licence should not have been granted until vital safety repairs have been made. SAFCEI and several other civil society organisations believe that proceeding without these repairs creates unnecessary risk for South Africa, especially for people living in and around Cape Town. On Sunday, 2 March 2025, Koeberg unit 2 was “inadvertently tripped” while it was being worked on, leaving both units down.

Francesca de Gasparis, executive director of SAFCEI, said: “Safety should be the number one priority at Koeberg, which is why Koeberg should not be operating until the containment monitoring system is fully functional. But the problem is that, illogically, Eskom has not and still does not want to fix the system.”

The core of SAFCEI’s appeal is based upon the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) safety inspections of Koeberg. Ever since 2022, the IAEA has strongly recommended that Koeberg’s containment monitoring system be restored to full functionality. In fact, Eskom has admitted to SAFCEI in writing that “full restoration of the containment monitoring instruments (is) ideal.”

Unit 1 has been down since September last year after one of the isolation/block valves failed its three-monthly routine test. “This means Koeberg is not producing any power, and in fact is drawing about 40MW to keep the cooling pumps and other equipment running. This shows two things: that Koeberg is not needed to avoid loadshedding, and that nuclear power is inherently intermittent and needs a backup in case of unexpected shutdowns,” according to Lydia Petersen, spokesperson for the Koeberg Alert Alliance.

"The economic consequences alone of a leak from the containment structures would be catastrophic, and that means the focus must be on safety first” according to Peter Becker, a former director of the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR). “I have not heard an adequate explanation of why some safety features required in France for reactors of the same design as Koeberg are not being installed by Eskom,” he added.

The NNR has exacerbated the situation by stating that the containment monitoring system, which monitors the health of the containment structure, Koeberg’s last line of defence in the case of nuclear meltdown, should be fixed during Koeberg outages 129 and 229. While no firm date has been set for these outages, they are likely only to be in 2029 and 2030.

On 6 September 2024, the IAEA stated that Eskom needs to ensure that “the containment monitoring system is fully refurbished and remains fully functional during the LTO period.” [1]

There is also uncertainty about what Eskom has spent, and still needs to spend, on refurbishing Koeberg to keep it running beyond the initial planned shutdown in 2024. The initial estimate by Eskom in 2010 was that it would cost R20bn. “Eskom has repeatedly lied to both the public and parliament about the extent of the cost escalations over the last 15 years” according to Becker. “It would not surprise me if the true cost will be over R60bn, just from inflation alone, and yet the plant is still having unplanned shutdowns.”

Due to the amount of repairs and maintenance needed for the ageing plant, during 2024 Koeberg had an energy availability factor of just under 48% and produced on average less than half the electricity produced from renewable sources in the same period.

“It’s interesting that during the long-term operation extension hearings for Koeberg, it was mentioned to the public that Koeberg was needed to ensure energy stability in the country. Yet, we see that the plant itself is everything but a stable and reliable source of energy. It is clear that this extension was not the right decision, and that instead we should have seen our country invest and build renewable energy,” said Gabriel Klaasen, youth spokesperson, Project 90 by 2030.

The continued operation of Koeberg without a fully functioning containment monitoring system violates both safety regulations and international recommendations. With public safety at risk, the long-term operation extension should be revoked until Eskom has implemented the necessary repairs and demonstrated compliance with safety standards. Until then, South Africans - especially those living in proximity to Koeberg - remain exposed to unnecessary and avoidable risks.

“We are calling for the immediate suspension of Koeberg’s license extension until critical safety issues are fully addressed, as the potential consequences of inaction are simply too severe to ignore,” said De Gasparis.

To download a copy of SAFCEI’s appeal to the minister, please go to: [https://safcei.vercel.app/uploads/safcei-reply-eskom-responses-koeberg-lto-27_01_2025.pdf]

To download a copy SAFCEI’s original submission to the NNR on Unit 1’s lifetime extension, please go to: [https://safcei.vercel.app/uploads/20240911-safcei-appeal-nnr-kpns-lto.pdf]

[1] https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/pressreleases/iaea-concludes-long-term-operation-safety-review-at-south-africas-koeberg-nuclear-power-plant