The OPR-1000 is a South Korean-designed two-loop 1000 MWe PWR Generation II nuclear reactor, developed by KHNP and KEPCO. [1] The OPR-1000 was originally designated as the Korean Standard Nuclear Power Plant (KSNP), and was re-designated as the OPR-1000 in 2005 for foreign sales. [2] It was developed based on the Combustion Engineering (C-E)'s system 80 design, through a technology transfer agreement. The reactor core design was derived from the C-E designed Arkansas Nuclear One Unit 2, the nuclear steam supply system (NSSS) was derived from the C-E designed units at Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, and auxiliary plant design was derived from the earlier Unit-1 and Unit-2 at the Yeonggwang (now Hanbit) Nuclear Power Plant. [3]
Based on the OPR-1000 design, KEPCO has developed a Generation III reactor uprated plant, the APR-1400. [4]
The reference plants used to develop the OPR-1000 design using technology transfer are Yeonggwang (now Hanbit) Unit-3 and Unit-4, which came on-line in 1995 and 1996, respectively. The first plants designated as OPR-1000 plants are Ulchin (now Hanul) Unit-3 and Unit-4, which came on-line in 1998 and 1999, respectively.
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) states an improved OPR-1000 design has been implemented at eight units:
Including the reference Unit-3 and Unit-4 at Hanbit (formerly Yeonggwang), there are a total of twelve OPR-1000 plants, all inside South Korea. [5]
Site | Unit | Status | Construction Start | First Criticality | Operation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hanbit | 3 [lower-alpha 1] | operational | 23 December 1989 | 13 October 1994 | 31 March 1995 |
4 [lower-alpha 1] | 26 May 1990 | 7 July 1995 | 1 January 1996 | ||
5 [lower-alpha 2] | 29 June 1997 | 24 November 2001 | 21 May 2002 [lower-alpha 3] | ||
6 [lower-alpha 2] | 20 November 1997 | 1 September 2002 | 24 December 2002 [lower-alpha 3] | ||
Hanul | 3 | 21 July 1993 | 21 December 1997 | 11 August 1998 | |
4 | 1 November 1993 | 14 December 1998 | 31 December 1999 | ||
5 [lower-alpha 2] | 1 October 1999 | 28 November 2003 | 29 July 2004 | ||
6 [lower-alpha 2] | 29 September 2000 | 16 December 2004 | 22 April 2005 | ||
Shin-Kori | 1 [lower-alpha 2] | 16 June 2006 | 15 July 2010 | 28 February 2011 [lower-alpha 4] | |
2 [lower-alpha 2] | 5 June 2007 | 27 December 2011 | 20 July 2012 [lower-alpha 4] | ||
Shin-Wolsong | 1 [lower-alpha 2] | 20 November 2007 | 6 January 2012 | 31 July 2012 [lower-alpha 4] | |
2 [lower-alpha 2] | 23 September 2008 | 8 February 2015 [lower-alpha 5] | 24 July 2015 |
The first plants incorporating the APR-1400 design are still under construction. Ten units are planned:
The first start of the OPR-1000 at Shin Kori Nuclear Power Plant Unit-1 was 28 February 2011.
This OPR-1000's first malfunction was noted on 2 October 2012 at 8:10 a.m. Shin Kori-1 was shut down after a warning signal indicated a malfunction in the control rod, which is used to control the rate of fission of nuclear materials, according to the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. It is the first time that reactor, located 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul, has been shut down due to a malfunction since it began commercial operation on 28 Feb. 2011. An investigation was undertaken to verify the exact cause of the problem. [9]
In 2012, a probe was opened regarding some fraudulently-certified parts installed in five OPR-1000 reactors over a ten-year period. [6] Hanbit-5 and -6, which had a greater number of fraudulent parts, were shut down until the parts could be replaced, and Hanbit-3 and -4 and Hanul-3 were allowed remain on-line pending parts replacement. [6] Hanbit-5 and -6 were cleared for restart in early 2013, [10] but in April 2013, following a tip, four additional units were shut down and not allowed to restart until fraudulently-certified safety-related control cabling was replaced: Shin Kori-1 and -2 and Shin Wolsong-1 and -2; although construction on Shin Wolsong-2 was complete, it had not yet achieved operational status, and it was not allowed to start up until cabling was replaced. [7] The same cabling was used at the APR-1400 units then under construction at Shin Kori (Units 3 & 4), [7] forcing a year-long delay in their startup. [11] After cabling was replaced, Shin Kori-1 and -2 and Shin Wolsong-1 were approved for restart in January 2014. [12] Shin Wolsong-2 was connected to the grid in February 2015, [13] with commercial operation commencing in July 2015. [14]
A variant incorporating a number of advanced features from the larger APR-1400 design, named the APR1000, has been designed for European use. It was certified as compliant by the European Utility Requirements (EUR) organisation in March 2023. The assessment was requested in November 2019, and the assessment started in February 2021. It will still require design approval in each country it is used in. [15] [16]
KHNP is in an intellectual property legal dispute with Westinghouse, which claims Westinghouse technology is incorporated in the APR1000 design, while KHNP claims the APR1000 is an independently developed design. [17]
Yeonggwang County (Yeonggwang-gun) is a county in South Jeolla Province, South Korea.
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power is a subsidiary of the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO). It operates large nuclear and hydroelectric plants in South Korea, which are responsible for about 27 percent of the country's electric power.
Korea Electric Power Corporation, better known as KEPCO (Korean: 켑코) or Hanjeon (Korean: 한전), is the largest electric utility in South Korea, responsible for the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity and the development of electric power projects including those in nuclear power, wind power and coal. KEPCO, through its subsidiaries, is responsible for 93% of Korea's electricity generation as of 2011. The South Korean government owns a 51.11% share of KEPCO. Together with its affiliates and subsidiaries, KEPCO has an installed capacity of 65,383 MW. On the 2011 Fortune Global 500 ranking of the world's largest companies, KEPCO was ranked 271. KEPCO is a member of the World Energy Council, the World Nuclear Association and the World Association of Nuclear Operators. As of August 2011, KEPCO possesses an A+ credit rating with Fitch Ratings, while Moody's has assigned KEPCO an A1 stable rating.
The Czech Republic operates two nuclear power plants: Temelín and Dukovany. As of 2019 the government intends to increase the share of nuclear electricity production from 30 % to 58 %. To this end, a new reactor is to be constructed at the Dukovany site, which will replace older units by 2035. New capacities are also expected to be added at the Temelín site.
Nuclear power is a major power source in South Korea, providing 29% of the country's electricity. The total electrical generation capacity of the nuclear power plants of South Korea is 20.5 GWe from 23 reactors, equivalent to 22% of South Korea's total electrical generation capacity.
The Mihama Nuclear Power Plant is operated by The Kansai Electric Power Company, Inc. and is in the town of Mihama, Fukui Prefecture, about 320 km west of Tokyo. It is on a site that is 520,000 m2 of which 60% is green space. Mihama - 1 was commissioned in 1970.
The Ōi Nuclear Power Plant, also known as Oi or Ohi, is a nuclear power plant located in the town of Ōi, Fukui Prefecture, managed by the Kansai Electric Power Company. The site is 1.88 square kilometers. Ōi Units 3 and 4 were taken offline in September 2013. In December 2017 Kansai Electric Power announced that it will decommission reactors no. 1 and 2 because of their age and the difficulty of making safety upgrades within their small containment vessels. Unit 3 was restarted on 14 March 2018, and unit 4 was restarted on 9 May 2018.
The Takahama Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant located in the town of Takahama, Ōi District, Fukui Prefecture. It is owned and operated by the Kansai Electric Power Company and is on a site with an area of about 1 km2. The four pressurized water reactors give the plant a total gross electric capacity of 3,392 MW and average yearly production of 22,638 GWh.
The Kori Nuclear Power Plant is a South Korean nuclear power plant located in Kori, a suburban village in Busan. It is the world's second largest fully operational nuclear generating station by total reactor count and the number of currently operational reactors since 2016, after it exceeded in nameplate capacity Canada's Bruce Nuclear Generating Station. It is owned and operated by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, a subsidiary of KEPCO. The first reactor began commercial operation in 1978 and operated until 2017 when it was decommissioned. Units 2, 3, and 4 started commercial operations in the 1980s. All reactors on site are pressurized water reactors.
The Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant, or Wolsong, is a nuclear power plant located on the coast near Nae-ri, Yangnam-myeon, Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang province, South Korea. It is the only South Korean nuclear power plant operating CANDU-type PHWR. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power owns the plant. These reactors are capable of consuming multiple types of fuel, including wastes from South Korea's other nuclear plants.
The Hanul Nuclear Power Plant is a large nuclear power station in the North Gyeongsang Province of South Korea. The facility has six pressurized water reactors (PWRs) with a total installed capacity of 5,881 MW. The first went online in 1988. In the early 2000s it was the third largest operational nuclear power plant in the world and the second largest in South Korea. The plant's name was changed from Uljin to Hanul in 2013.
The Hanbit Nuclear Power Plant is a large nuclear power station in the Jeollanam-do province of South Korea. The facility runs at an installed capacity of 5,875 MW. The power station is currently ranked as the fifth largest nuclear power station in the world. The plant's name was changed from Yeonggwang NPP to Hanbit in 2013 at the request of local fishermen.
The United Arab Emirates is installing nuclear-powered plants to meet their electricity demand, which is estimated to increase from 15 GWe to over 40 GWe in 2020. In December 2009, the US and UAE signed a Section 123 Agreement for peaceful nuclear cooperation. The UAE has also signed Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), along with the additional protocol.
KEPCO E&C is a power plant design and engineering company in South Korea. It was established in 1975 as a public enterprise. KEPCO E&C engages in designing, engineering, and constructing nuclear and fossil power plants. The company operates as a subsidiary of Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO).
Vietnam is considering developing nuclear power for peaceful purposes based on modern, verified technology since 1995, and firm proposals surfaced in 2006. In November 2016 Vietnam suspended its nuclear power plans. In 2022 industry and trade minister Nguyen Hong Dien announced that developing nuclear power is an “inevitable trend” for Vietnam, and will help the country to become carbon neutral by 2050.
The APR-1400 is an advanced pressurized water nuclear reactor designed by the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO). Originally known as the Korean Next Generation Reactor (KNGR), this Generation III reactor was developed from the earlier OPR-1000 design and also incorporates features from the US Combustion Engineering (C-E) System 80+ design. Currently in South Korea there are 3 units in operation, and 3 units in construction. Four units are completed and in commercial operation in the United Arab Emirates at Barakah.
Moorside nuclear power station is proposed for a site near Sellafield, in Cumbria, England. The original plan by NuGeneration, a British subsidiary of Toshiba-owned Westinghouse Electric Company, had the station coming online from 2024 with 3.4 GW of new nuclear capacity, from three AP1000 reactors. Work up to 2018 would include acquiring the site licence, the development consent order, and other required permits and permissions to start work. Site preparation was to take two years, up to 2020.
The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation is the entity responsible for the deployment and ownership of nuclear energy plants in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The Cheonji Nuclear Power Plant (Korean: 천지원자력발전소) is a planned South Korean nuclear power plant located in rural Yeongdeok County. Cheonji would be the first plant to implement the uprated APR+ design with 1500MWe output. The first unit, Cheonji-1, was scheduled to enter commercial operation in 2026, with the sister unit Cheonji-2 to follow in 2027. However, in the wake of the election of Moon Jae-in, who campaigned on an anti-nuclear platform, plans to acquire the land and proceed with license application were put on hold in 2017. The two units are, as of 2023, scheduled to be completed 2028 and 2029, respectively.