The future of the Koeberg facility remains uncertain as the nuclear plant continues the fight against extended outages and ongoing maintenance issues.
However, a new problem has raised its head: skilled workers and experienced staff members – many of whom held significant technical positions at Koeberg – have quit their jobs. This tidal wave of resignations was highlighted by Jan Oberholzer, the current COO of Eskom – and he has labeled this trend as “horrifying”.
Oberholzer told those in attendance at the State of the System briefing that Koeberg has lost years of experience in its senior skilled workers and pointed to the fact that some technicians are happy to jack it in “even if they have no offers on the table”.
Oberholzer said: “I attended a meeting with maintenance at Koeberg, and I was horrified when they told me how many colleagues we have lost, taking away so many years of experience. What was alarming for me is that these experts are happy to resign with no other offers on the table, and months later, they go to Europe or the Middle East. So the issue of loss of skills and experience is a significant one for Eskom.”
Anton Eberhard (an energy policy specialist) said that he is fearful that a lack of experienced technicians at a nuclear plant, so close to the City of Cape Town, could have disastrous consequences.
Sources: MSN, Africa Top Forum
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.@Eskom_SA's COO Jan Oberholzer speaking today on the loss of skills at Koeberg.
— Anton Eberhard (@AntonEberhard) October 25, 2021
Scary. Capetonians won't be sleeping well.
The nuclear power plant is only 30km up the coast. pic.twitter.com/oKDI835M92
