Pretoria - To ensure sufficient energy supply particularly during the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Eskom is to shut down two units of the Koeberg power station for maintenance work.
Eskom said the two units would be shut down for between seven and 14 days respectively in March and April.
"The respective short duration shutdowns have been scheduled in accordance with the overall Eskom electricity production plan," said the power utility.
The power utility said Koeberg had identified a possible risk related to the system that takes in sea water to transfer heat from structures and components inside the reactor buildings.
In order to mitigate this risk, two short duration outages, one for each unit respectively will be scheduled.
Eskom said the system that cools the reactor and hence the nuclear fuel and transfers heat to the steam generators is not impacted, nor is the system that condenses the steam in the turbines.
Eskom said though the shutdowns are not expected to result in a shortage of supply of electricity to the Western Cape or the country, consumers are requested to be prudent and not to waste electricity.
