Case study
Aerial Filming at Koeberg Power Station
South Africa’s only nuclear power station, where every flight is cleared, planned and coordinated with the site before take-off.
Koeberg, just outside Cape Town, is South Africa’s only nuclear power station. It is a National Key Point inside restricted airspace, so a drone flight there starts long before anyone arrives on site.
Clearance first
The work needed several layers of clearance: from Koeberg itself, from Eskom security and from the aviation authorities. Every flight was planned under SACAA regulations, and the flight plans, risk assessments, safety protocols and emergency procedures were drawn up and approved before we flew.
On site, we worked closely with Koeberg staff so that every movement fitted the station’s safety and security requirements.
Inside the seismic float
Part of the work took place inside the seismic float, the underground structure built to protect the reactors and critical equipment from earthquakes. It is a tight, enclosed space, and it decided the choice of aircraft.
The right aircraft for the space
We regularly fly larger platforms such as the DJI Inspire 3, but here we used the DJI Mavic 3. It is compact and stable in confined spaces, and its Hasselblad camera still delivers stills and video to a professional standard.
What made it possible
On a site like Koeberg, the flying is the smaller part of the job. The rest is preparation and trust: approvals in place, procedures agreed, and every flight coordinated with the people responsible for the site.
Planning an aerial shoot?
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