Nuclear plant to shut unit for refuelling, maintenance

Unit 2 of South Africa's sole nuclear power plant will be shut down for three months from the end of August as part of routine refuelling and maintenance, power utility Eskom said on Thursday.

In February, unit 1 of the plant known as Koeberg was shut down for a similar period, resulting in the loss of half the output at the 1,800 megawatt nuclear power plant.

Africa's most advanced economy is facing its worst electricity crisis since 2008 and its citizens are subjected to frequent controlled blackouts, which Eskom implements to prevent the grid from collapsing.