NSSC decides after 41 days of discussion
Commercial operation next year after trial operation for 6 months
Possibility of early resumption of Shin Hanul Units 3 and 4
▲ Panoramic view of Shin-Hanul Units 1 and 2 Power Plant 2022.11.07 Provided by the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission Shin-Hanul Nuclear Power Plant Unit 2 received final operating permission from the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission. It has been 9 years since Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power applied for an operating permit in 2014. With this operating permit as the starting point, there is a prospect that the nuclear power plant review process for Shin Hanul Units 3 and 4, which are currently under review, will also proceed quickly.
The NSSC held the 183rd plenary meeting on the 7th and deliberated and decided on the ‘Permission to Operate Shin Hanul Unit 2’. An operating permit means that the nuclear power plant is recognized as a nuclear power plant that can operate normally. It has been 41 days since the NSSC received its first report on the operation permit for Shin Hanul Unit 2 at the 180th plenary meeting on July 28 and started official discussions.
Shin Hanul Unit 2 is a Korean-style nuclear power plant (APR1400) and is a pressurized water reactor type nuclear power plant with a power generation capacity of 1400 megawatts (MW). Construction began in December 2011 after receiving permission for construction, and was completed in August of last year. After receiving the operating permit this time, it will go through a test drive for the next six months. When the test is successfully completed, it receives a notice of passing the pre-use inspection from the NSSC, and goes into commercial operation after receiving a business start report from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. It is expected that commercial operation will be possible from April next year at the earliest.
As the delayed nuclear power plant operation schedule is normalized under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, the restoration of the domestic nuclear power plant ecosystem is expected to speed up. Shin Hanwool Units 3 and 4, for which the government applied for permission in December of last year, currently only has permission from the NSSC. The government also has a goal to include new nuclear power plants in the ’11th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand’, which is scheduled to be announced in the first half of next year.
Shin Hanul Unit 2 is expected to contribute to stabilizing domestic electricity supply and demand for 60 years, which is the operating license period. According to KHNP, the power generation of Shin Hanul Unit 2 accounts for about 1.81% of the annual power generation in Korea.
Reporter Yoo Seung-hyeok
2023-09-07 17:00:20
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