Koeberg sabotage claim queried
2006-03-02 07:00
Elise Tempelhoff
Johannesburg - Anything is possible. It might have been negligence, or even the sabotage of one of Koeberg's generators that virtually crippled the electricity supply from the nuclear power station in the past few months.
But one of the most important things to remember is the extremely strict safety measures enforced at Koeberg, South Africa's only nuclear power station, said various experts contacted by Beeld about the electricity crisis at Koeberg.
"Not just any Tom, Dick or Harry can get into Koeberg."
Moreover television cameras which are connected directly with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Switzerland, have been installed in nearly every room.
'Endless lack of maintenance'
All the work done is carefully monitored and stacks of forms have to be filled in, experts told Beeld on Wednesday about the government's allegations that it suspected sabotage of one of the generators.
It seems a bolt 8cm long seriously damaged the Unit One generator in December.
Institute of Energy Studies at the University of Johannesburg Dr Chris Cooper said on Wednesday that the generator where the "accident" presumably happened, was a large machine far removed from the nuclear activity.
There is also strict security for the room where it is housed.
He thought it would be impossible to throw a bolt in it while it was generating electricity, because of the unbearable heat in its immediate vicinity.
"If someone were to try something like that, he would probably not survive."
Maintenance work might not have been done properly, or someone might simply have been careless.
"Perhaps someone put back an old worn-out bolt and it fell out."
Supervision is very strict and one had to go through various processes to go into the different divisions, Cooper said.
"The only people who should find out what happened, are those from Eskom itself. They will have to do a forensic investigation," Cooper said.
An expert who did not want his name mentioned, because Koeberg was now a "political football", said the so-called sabotage must have occurred while the generator stood switched off for maintenance work.
Another expert said he "honestly thinks it was an endless lack of maintenance".
- Beeld