Mr David Nicholls is highly respected in the nuclear industry and regarded as a non-compromising leader who gets things done. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering (2-1) from the Royal Naval Engineering College, Manadon.
He was responsible for the nuclear new build programme and overseeing the Koeberg power station until his retirement in December 2018. While at the utility he revitalised the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR), an area in which South Africa was a world leader.
He had worked his way up through the ranks at Eskom, working in its nuclear engineering department in the early 1980s before being appointed as Technical Support Manager at Koeberg in the early 1990s. He headed up the PBMR project. He was later appointed Chief Nuclear Officer at Eskom, and has experience managing Koeberg, which is the lowest cost provider of electricity to the grid. With 33 years of experience at Eskom, Dave Nicholls is no stranger to the Nuclear industry. Previously Chief Nuclear Officer at Eskom, accountable for all Eskom’s nuclear activities, including the operation of the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station. He was also the General Manager for Nuclear Engineering, accountable for Nuclear Engineering at Koeberg and new build nuclear programme.
