Glitch at nuclear power station expected to worsen power shortage in S. Africa

South Africa's power utility Eskom on Sunday warned of a worsening power shortage due to a technical problem at the Koeberg nuclear power station.

"Unit 1 of the Koeberg power station is currently out of service due to a technical fault on the main generator transformer at the power station, which resulted in the unit being isolated from the national grid," Eskom said in a statement.

This renders the power system more vulnerable at a time when the country is gripped by constant rolling blackouts.

The root cause of the fault was unknown, Eskom said, adding that the nuclear reactor was not affected by the fault.

The unit was scheduled to go on a planned refuelling, inspection and maintenance outage on February 9, the utility said.

"Koeberg Unit 2 is currently generating full power and there is no nuclear safety concern for both units 1 and 2. Each unit contributes 930MW to the national power grid," the parastatal said.

Since 2008, South Africa has been experiencing regular disruptions in the supply of electricity. Power cuts have become even more regular since last November due to the collapse of two of Eskom's power stations.

Eskom, the country's only major electricity provider, is expected to give an update on progress at Koeberg and the general state of the power system on Monday morning.

Koeberg, situated near Cape Town, is Africa's only nuclear power station. Endi