Koeberg
Koeberg is located 30km north of Cape Town, on the West coast of South Africa, next to the SA Police Training College and the suburb of Melkbosstrand.
Koeberg Nuclear Power station is a Uranium pressurized water reactor based on a design by Fromatome (France) and is operated by the national power utility, Eskom. It is South Africa's only commercial nuclear reactor (A small research reactor was operated at Pelindaba as part of the nuclear weapons program) and supplies power into the national grid. It is rated at 1800MW, its average production is 11,480 MWh and it has the largest turbine generators (2x900 MW)in the Southern Hemisphere.
The plant has been in more or less continuous operation since commissioning. Construction of Koeberg began in 1976 and Unit 1 was synchronised to the grid on 4 April 1984, with Unit 2 following suit on 25 July 1985 and there have been no serious incidents.
Low and intermediate level waste from Koeberg is transported by road in steel and concrete containers to a remote disposal site at Vaalputs, 600km away in the Kalahari Desert.
The grounds of nuclear plant contain a 2,200 ha nature reserve open to the public containing more than 150 species of birds and half a dozen small mammal species.
The power plant was originally created well outside the metropolitan area, but has been encroached in recent years. This is the source of some tension between residents and Eskom, as the plant enforces maximum housing density regulations in case of evacuation, precluding the construction of high rise buildings.
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