As Eskom celebrates 40 years of commercial operation of Unit 1 of the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station, one of the original team members who switched on Unit 1, has reminisced about the first minutes that Koeberg started to produce nuclear energy and history was made.
Carl Koch was on shift on the morning of 14 March 1984, at exactly 09:43, when final adjustments was made to the control rods on Unit 1, thereby confirming the reactor to be critical.
Eskom released a statement on Sunday 21 July, stating that it was on this day, 40 years ago that Unit 1 completed the commissioning tests at 100% power and entered into commercial operation. Unit 2 followed later and entered commercial operation on 9 November 1985.
Koch posted on his LinkedIn account a few months ago about the experience.
On Tuesday morning Koch phoned into the Ryan O’Connor Breakfast show to recount some of the memories of the time, describing it as ”monumental”.
”It was the first time that a commercial reactor had gone critical in Africa, and it was a momentous occasion for the guys on shift. We were just lucky that we came in on the morning shift, as the guys on the night shift had started the dilution to criticality, and at 9 o’clock on the 14th of March 1984 we took the Unit to criticality.”
While Koch left South Africa to go work in power generation in the UK for 11 years, he is back at Koeberg training the future generation of nuclear power operators.
He says trainees have to undergo a rigorous two years of training to become a licenced operator, adding that the future of Koeberg is definitely in good hands.
”I watch these youngsters, they come onto our training programme after they’ve qualified first as plant operators for a couple of years. And the licenced programme is about 18 months to two years, that’s both on the simulators and in the classrooms. And we throw everything at them, you know.
”People ask me, well, what do you actually do? Well, we try to teach these guys how to land a Boeing safely on the Hudson River.”
Koch says he seen how these youngsters grow into professional operators.
”You’re in good hands…I wouldn’t still be working here if you weren’t…”
Highlighting Koeberg’s safety record, Eskom’s Group Chief Executive, Dan Marokane stated:
“This 40-year milestone is testament that South Africa has the people with the right knowledge, skills, experience, and capabilities to run a nuclear power station safely. Having successfully obtained the licence to operate for an additional 20 years, Koeberg will play a critical role in reducing carbon emissions and continuing to maintain and build a skilled nuclear workforce.”
READ: Koeberg Unit 1 granted 20-year life extension
