Amentum South Africa is supporting the $1.2 billion (ZAR 20 billion) program to extend the operating life of the Koeberg Nuclear Power Plant near Cape Town.
Koeberg, the only operating nuclear power plant on the African continent, generates 5% of the country’s electricity.
We were tasked with work to prepare the secondary circuit for the installation of six replacement steam generators, each weighing about 380 tons and about 20 meters long, at the two-reactor plant operated by state-owned utility Eskom.
“This project is vital to maintain the pivotal role of nuclear power in South Africa’s energy mix,” said Amentum International Senior Vice President Andy White. “To date, this is the largest single contract for our nuclear team in South Africa, which has successfully completed numerous engineering, procurement and construction projects to support operations at Koeberg over the past 22 years.”
Our scope of work to carry out modifications to the secondary turbine system includes prefabrication of piping, pipe supports, piping replacement; installation of on-site scaffolding, rigging and lagging; vessel modifications and strengthening; installation of safety valves, and replacement of forced air cooler units. Health & Safety and Quality also formed part of Amentums site remit.
The original steam generators have been in service since the plant was connected to the national grid in 1984. Their replacement is an essential part of the plan to extend the operational life of Koeberg’s two 900 MWe Framatome pressurized water reactors from 40 to 60 years, for which a new license has recently been granted.
Amentum has also been contracted to deliver design services, procurement, manufacturing, seismic testing and certification, installation testing and commissioning for a hardened instrumentation project to ensure that operators and emergency management can continue to monitor critical control and instrumentation plant parameters during and after flooding or seismic events. This is another important upgrade required to justify plant life extension.
Our previous engineering, procurement and construction contracts to support operations for Eskom have included providing additional spent fuel cooling capacity, station blackout mitigation, new hydrogen production and bulk storage plant, replacing the fire detection system, and providing support services to replace the refueling water storage tank.
