why the koeberg power plant was built in the western cape
more economical
title: Koeberg Nuclear Power Station text: Koeberg Nuclear Power Station Koeberg nuclear power station is a nuclear power station in South Africa. It is currently the only one in the country, and the only one on the entire African continent. It is located 30 km north of Cape Town, near Melkbosstrand on the west coast of South Africa. Koeberg is owned and operated by the country's only national electricity supplier, Eskom. The two reactors form the cornerstone of the South African nuclear program. Koeberg contains two pressurised water reactors based on a design by Framatome of France. Koeberg supplies power to the national grid so that title: Koeberg Nuclear Power Station text: over-capacity can be redistributed to the rest of the country on an as-needed basis. Fuel stock used within the reactor is enriched uranium dioxide pellets containing gadolinium, contained in fuel rods. Koeberg is rated at 1,860 MW, its average annual production is 13,668 GWh and it has two large turbine generators (2 × 970 MW). Each reactor delivers 970 MW (gross) and is capable of delivering 930 MW (net) to the grid. The power station was constructed near Cape Town to be the sole provider of power in the Western Cape after fossil-fuel power stations were deemed too small and title: Laingsburg, Western Cape text: Laingsburg is situated along the N1 route, at Lat: -33.20, Long: 20.85, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The town is situated in the Great Karoo, a semi-desert region of South-Africa. The town's total rainfall is about 150mm per year. The main water supply is the Buffels River. Summers are extremely hot and dry, with temperatures usually exceeding 30°C. Winters are crisp to sometimes very cold, with snow occasionally occurring in the surrounding region. Laingsburg's economy is mainly based on farming of goats, sheep, lucerne (Alfalfa), fruit and vegetables. Laingsburg, Western Cape Laingsburg is a town located in title: Western Cape text: that bring rain to the province in winter, as well as the almost uninterrupted dry southeasterly winds in summer. But fresh water coming off Table Mountain and Devil's Peak allowed the early European settlers to build Cape Town on the shores of this less than satisfactory anchorage. The province is topographically exceptionally diverse. Most of the province falls within the Cape Fold Belt, a set of nearly parallel ranges of sandstone folded mountains of Cambrian-Ordovician age (the age of the rocks is from 510 to about 330 million years ago; their folding into mountains occurred about 350 to about 270 title: Koeberg Nuclear Power Station text: Subsequent to the unexpected unavailability of Unit 1, Unit 2 was also brought down for scheduled refuelling, resulting in a severe shortage of supply to the Western Cape. This resulted in widespread load shedding in order to maintain the stability of the network. A replacement rotor for Unit 1 was shipped in from France and the unit was brought back into operation in May 2006. On 18 and 19 February 2006 large parts of the Western Cape again experienced blackouts due to a controlled shutdown of Koeberg. According to Eskom and the City of Cape Town, power cuts were to