Eskom nuclear training under way

Cape Town - Eskom is on a mission to grow its nuclear operator capacity on the back of government’s plans to expand the country’s nuclear capabilities with its 9.6 GW nuclear build programme.

The power utility’s Koeberg facility has taken on 98 trainees who will undergo five years of intensive training to become nuclear operators.

Marking the start of the Nuclear Operator Pipeline project on Thursday, Public Entreprises Minister Lynne Brown said there was a common “misperception” about nuclear energy.

“It is probably our most reliable source of electricity. We are gearing for a future of nuclear, but also to train young people as a career for today,” said Brown.

Operating the only nuclear power station in Africa, Brown said Eskom would be a contender as an operator of future nuclear facilities, but that it needed to build capacity first.

A minimum of 22 senior operators, 40 reactor operators and 100 plant operators are required to run a shift at Koeberg.

Koeberg’s general manager Riedewaan Bakardien said four or five times the number of trained operators would be required to meet the requirements of government’s nuclear build programme.

Koeberg is the only nuclear facility outside of the US that runs a training programme accredited with the US National Academy of Nuclear Training.

“We have a model and we know how to train operators,” said Bakardien.

Eskom chief executive Brian Molefe is currently undergoing nuclear training in the US.

The trainees who qualify as nuclear operators at Koeberg will be licensed specifically to work at the station, but Barkardien said the skills were transferable internationally.

The new trainees, several of which are already qualified technicians, artisans and engineers, said the opportunity to become nuclear professionals was a life-changing event. “This opportunity gives us a chance to break the chains of poverty,” said trainee Faith Maluleka.

“Now we can achieve more and greater things than we’ve ever imagined.”

At least 95 percent of the students are younger than 35 and 40 percent are black females from around the country.

Brown called on former “black” universities like UWC and Fort Hare to start offering nuclear energy studies.

Eskom chairman Baldwin Ngubane said training programme was not only about creating jobs.