South Africa: Koeberg Unit 1 Can Operate Until 2044 Despite Concerns, Says Nuclear Regulator

16 July 2024
Daily Maverick (Johannesburg)
By Ethan Van Diemen

In a Monday briefing, National Nuclear Regulator CEO Ditebogo Kgomo announced that Koeberg Power Station's Unit 1 has received approval for a 20-year operating licence extension.

Listen to this article 7 min Listen to this article 7 min On Monday, 16 July, National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) CEO Ditebogo Kgomo confirmed that Unit 1 at the Koeberg Power Station had received regulatory approval for its 20-year life extension. The decision for Unit 2 has been deferred and will be made before its licence expires on 9 November 2025.

In a media briefing on the "regulatory decision for the Koeberg Long Term Operation licence application", Kgomo said that, "as provided for by Section 21.5 of the NNR Act, the NNR board of directors approved the granting of the application for the Koeberg Nuclear power station Unit 1 to operate for 20 years until the 21st of July 2044".

Unit 1 provides 930MW of power to the grid, carbon emission-free.

Regarding Unit 2, Kgomo said that, "given that the evaluation process for the 20-year extension is still in progress and that the current Unit 2 licence is valid until the 9th of November 2025, the NNR board of directors deferred the decision to be made before November 2025".

She explained that though the regulator had a specific mandate regarding South Africa's only nuclear power installation, it did not operate...

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